Elisabeth's Explanations

Merry Christmas, y'all

2011-12-29T16:17:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick update on the Chang's Holiday Season:

1. Disney World is still the happiest place on earth. I could not love it any more than I already do. It was so fun going with my nieces this time and seeing their eyes light up whenever a character would walk by, especially Minnie Mouse or Donald Duck. They stole the show. Three days is just not enough though. My heart still longs for all the magic!

2. We found out Ed matched (!!!) into ENT at Tripler Army Medical Center. That's right friends, we are moving to Hawaii, which means you essentially have a vacation home in Paradise. Start planning your trip now. We move after graduation in late May 2012.

3. Whoever said Las Vegas is like Disney World for adults was obviously on crack. WDW is a million times better than LV. And this whole "Las Vegas has become family friendly" line is a lie. You are constantly bombarded by pictures of naked women. I inhaled so much second-hand smoke during my week there that I may have shaved a year off my life. Plus, let's be honest, all the hype about the buffets is not lived up to. Disney World's food doesn't even compare, except for In-N-Out, that's pretty great. :)

4. Snowboarding in Utah was so much fun. I had a little hissy fit and almost gave up before even making it to the lift, but Ed was nothing short of the perfect husband that day and encouraged me to keep trying. I ended up loving it and will definitely do it again.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Aloha!

2011-09-26T21:54:00.002-04:00

We made it to Hawaii safe and sound. The 9 hour flight from Chicago to Honolulu was the longest of my life. That's actually a false statement, I've been on tons of longer flights, but this one seemed to never end. Ed and I got stuck in middle seating, and for some reason my bladder decided to act up on me. I had to ask my neighbors to get up 4 separate times so I could pee. I kept wishing I was pregnant so I could use that as an excuse. But nope, I guess I just drank too much coffee and orange juice for breakfast. AND, they didn't serve any food on the flight. Not even peanuts. What has the world come to? We had to pay an arm and leg for a salad and wrap. United Airlines, you just lost 2 customers. Anyway, Ed played some game on his iPad for the entire flight, and he was happy as a clam. My attention span was about as long as my 3 year old niece's (should have taken some Adderall...lesson learned). I tried playing games on my iPhone, but it would only entertain me for about 10 minutes before I was ready to move on to something more exciting. I eventually got so bored that I started thinking of all the things that could go wrong on the flight, and I almost convinced myself that I was going to get a DVT and die of a pulmonary embolus before the flight would ever end. I think I've done too many Step 2 practice questions. (If the question involves a woman who just got off a long flight or a truck driver, the answer is something about a DVT. Always.)

We've already had our first hiccup of the trip. Victim: Ed Chang. Perpetrator: Car Rental. "Mr. Chang, may I see your license?" "Sure..........oh crap." Ed had forgotten his driver's license. How could this happen, you ask? Ed always uses his military ID to check into flights. So we got 5000 miles away from home before he realized the mistake. Unfortunately, we don't know where his license is. Since he never uses it except to rent cars, we are assuming it is in Seattle, WA, the location of his last car rental. He had flown out there last week for an interview. He has been on the phone for hours with the car rental place, but keeps getting the run around and no one will get back to him about the license. Ed has contacted Arizona (the state that issued his license...long story, don't ask), and they said they are willing to send him a replacement license, but he has to send his license # to them. Who actually knows their license #? Not me. Nor Ed. So we are still counting on the Seattle car rental place to find it and overnight it to us. Until then, I am in charge of the driving, which is uber weird. I hate it. I like to sight see and let my mind drift off to random stuff like DVTs, not worry about which exit to take and swerve in and out of crazy traffic.

Our condo is so nice. We are located in Diamond Head Park, right south of Waikiki. It's a 2 bedroom place right on the beach with a great view and full kitchen, living room, bathroom, cable TV, internet, etc. Seriously, anyone is welcome to come visit us while we are here. There is plenty of room. I still can't believe Ed was able to find this place for under our daily housing stipend that the Army provides. That's right, we are staying here for FREE. It's too good to be true. I hope we don't have to work too hard while we are here so that we can actually enjoy our time in paradise. We ate at a hole-in-the-wall Korean BBQ restaurant last night that was out of this world good. Ed had told me that the Asian food was on a whole different level here, and he wasn't kidding. It has not disappointed.

Here is a picture of our view from the condo. I will try to update the blog a couple more times while we are here so everyone can know just how great our trip is. :)

Residency Applications/Interviews

2011-09-19T18:03:00.001-04:00

Ed and I are right thick in the middle of residency applications. In fact, Ed has already done 2 official interviews and I just dropped him off at the airport for his third. As most of you know, Ed is applying to military residencies because he is on scholarship for medical school (shout out to all you tax payers...thanks for our income!). His first interview was at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in Bethesda, Md. He absolutely loved the residents and attendings, and the fact that his hospital is brand spanking new (opened this year) and it is right across the street from the NIH, Ed was salivating at the idea of moving to DC. Ed started medical school as part of the MD/PhD program, but because his preceptor moved to Colorado this past summer, his research has been halted and he is going to take the Masters in Science and not get to finish the PhD at UK. The WRNMMC program would allow Ed to work on his PhD project at NIH during residency, so his goal of getting the double doctorate is not quite dead! Yay!

He also interviewed at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, Tx. I accompanied him on this trip and did an unofficial interview at Christus Santa Rosa Family Medicine program. We both had great interviews and can totally see ourselves ending up in San Antonio. Obviously, I loved being back in Texas and seeing so many Aggies everywhere, and with my two best friends being Texas natives, it is definitely my second home. BAMC has a lot of perks that WRNMMC didn't, namely that the case load is higher and he will get better facial trauma training. One of the downsides is that the research isn't nearly as strong as DC, but there is some opportunity.

Ed is currently on a flight to Seattle to interview at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis (Tacoma, WA). We don't know much about the program, but it seems to have a strong reputation. Also, the Pacific Northwest is known for being the hot-spot for Family Medicine training. Unlike where we live in the Southeast, Family Medicine is the "cool" thing to do out West. There are 7 different Family Medicine residencies within an hour drive of Madigan, but the one I am most interested in is Tacoma Family Medicine, not only because it's the best location, but it has an awesome reputation. Once again, we'd be happy to end up in Washington state - such a fun, vibrant area with skiing, hiking, and ocean activities all so close. It may take a while for me to adjust to the clouds/rain though.

Ed and I leave for Hawaii this coming weekend. Yes, I just said that - HAWAII. Whoop! We will be there for a whole month doing away rotations. I will be working with the University of Hawaii FM Program and Ed will be with Tripler Army Medical Center at Fort Shafter. We have rented a condo on the beach near Diamondhead. It looks amazing. Don't worry, I will be posting lots of pics. Whenever we mention Hawaii as an option for residency to our friends, everyone thinks ranking them first is a no-brainer. We agree that living in Hawaii for 5 years, all on Uncle Sam's dime, sounds fantastic, but we have to decide if we are willing to be that far away from home for so long. Since we will be attempting to start a family during that time period, I feel like it may be hard to have Papa and Happy (my parent's nicknames, thanks to my niece Mary Beth) half way around the world. So, needless to say, it is a very good thing that we are doing rotations there so we can get a feel for actually living there instead of just visiting for a one-day interview.

The interviews are starting to pour in for me. That's one of the joys of choosing Family Medicine (or primary care in general). It's not nearly as competitive as ENT. I have interviews set up for VCU-Fairfax (in Fairfax, VA...duh), Georgetown (DC), Franklin Square (Baltimore), Meharry (Nashville), and Trident (Charleston, SC). If you've been paying attention during this post, you should now be asking, "Why are you interviewing in Nashville and Charleston?" That's a great question. And here's the answer. While we are quite confident that Ed will match into an Army spot, there is always the possibility that he could open up his Match Day letter on December 15 and it read "deferred," which means he is released to do a civilian residency.) Ed has applied to about 20 civilian ENT programs in the Southeast, two of which are Vanderbilt and Medical University of South Carolina. And since he had to apply to civilian ENT residencies, I had to apply to FM residencies near those spots as well. Can you say headache? So while our main focus is DC, San Antonio, Tacoma, and Hawaii, we have to be prepared for all options and keep other schools in the back of our heads.

OK, well I'm tired (and slightly stressed) from writing this, so I'm gonna go. I will update y'all about Ed's Madigan trip and of course Hawaii in a few weeks. Until then, check out my hunky hubby before one of his interviews. Mmmm mmmm, gotta love a man in uniform.

First Anniversary

2011-08-02T12:21:00.002-04:00

Ed and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say, this past year has been a blast. Maybe it's because we're still newlyweds, but I really think this marriage thing is pretty great. (BTW, when do we stop being "newlyweds?" Because I still feel like we qualify.) We laugh more than any couple I know. We play the "I love you more" game every single day. And we have more lovey-dovey nicknames for each other than any couple out there. Sure, we had a few fights over the course of our first year, but there were no nights in the "dog house"/couch for either of us. Victory!

I feel sorry for every other woman in the world because I somehow landed the best man in the world. Ed is ridiculously great at being a husband. And I'm not just saying he's great at doing the manly things around the house, like mowing, taking out the trash, paying the bills, or doing the dishes (all of which he does without complaining). What I am really talking about is how great of an encourager, friend, and confidant he is. The man was made to love me. God must have knit an extra gene of patience in his being, for which I am very grateful.

In honor of our 1 year anniversary, I made this photo montage. It hits the highlights of our first year as husband and wife. This is my first attempt at making anything like this, so don't be too critical. For some reason the uploaded video has horrible quality, so I apologize. :)

My Father's Daughter (kinda)

2011-07-20T14:05:00.010-04:00

My father wears many hats - family man, surgeon, sports fanatic, and gardener to name a few. While rotating through the ENT department as part of my surgery course this past spring, all of his residents kept commenting that my father is a workaholic. I was completely shocked by this, since I feel like he was always around while growing up. Now I will be the first to admit that my father is a VERY hard worker, but I have always admired how efficient he is with his work. For him, it's quality, not quantity. He was able to start up and effectively manage the ENT department at UK, all the while coaching my soccer and basketball teams (along with my brothers'), staying up to date with all the UK basketball news, and traveling with me every weekend to my soccer tournaments. Furthermore, we always had the most beautiful yard in the neighborhood - unbelievable rose gardens, perfectly trimmed hedges, as well as a pretty substantial vegetable garden. What can I say, I guess my dad is Superman. And this now explains why I had such high expectations for my future mate. Don't worry, Ed meets all of these. He and my father are eerily similar.

While I unfortunately did not inherit my father's efficiency or intelligence, I did inherit his gardening affinity (and his steady surgical hand, according to some other attendings and residents, hehe). I planted a few herbs and veggies in my back yard earlier this year and at the time thought little of it. If they produced, then great, but I wasn't going to get into it like my dad. I had more important things to do than spend hours in the yard every day. But then before I knew it, I found myself going out to water the garden every day and marvel in how the plants grew. They were my own little creations and I started to take ownership. Then BAM, they started producing veggies, and my life has been turned upside down. There is something so special about going out to your backyard to pick herbs or veggies and then serving them with dinner a few hours later. Not only does it save you time and money, but it's as "organic" as you can get - nothing but fresh water and love have touched these. The only problem I've had so far is my tomato plants are not cooperating with me. They keep growing taller and stronger, but have no buds on them. I think I planted them in a spot that doesn't get enough direct sunlight. Boo. Anyway, here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

My garden now (left) compared to at the beginning of the summer (right).

This is supposed to turn into a red bell pepper. Mmm mmm.

Watermelon!!!!

Green onions, anyone? Use these to make mapo tofu all the time.

Okra is in bloom. Ed loves some fried okra.


Parsley, which I always pronounce as "parzley" and it drives my mother crazy. :)


I have cucumbers growing out of my ears. Let me know if you want any - they are crisp and delicious.

Mint - what I use the most from my garden. Nothing like mama's Sweet Mint Tea recipe for a hot summer day.

Sweet, succulent, to die for basil. Gosh I love this stuff.

Thyme is delightful.

Oregano. This is taking over my garden and I barely ever us it. I need to cook more Italian food I suppose.

Needless to say, I'm hooked to gardening, and all thanks goes to my pops. Love you, Dad. You really are the best father in the world. You're obviously doing something right if people at home think you're always home and people at work think you're always at work. You need to teach me how to be in two places at once! :)

An Ode to Brussels Sprouts

2011-06-19T15:48:00.000-04:00

I've been on a real cooking spree lately. The problem with that is that I am quickly tiring of my side dishes. You can only eat so much broccoli, spinach, or side salad. I got adventurous this week when I saw some fresh brussels sprouts at the grocery. Ed said that his mom used to make them when he was growing up and they were one of his favorite veggies. I was hesitant, mostly because I remember hating them as a child, but also because I've never made them from "scratch" before. But I figured hey, I'll give it a shot. Maybe my taste has matured since I last ate them, which was circa 2003, when I moved out of my parent's house. My mom made us Jones kids suffer at the dinner table about twice a year when she'd serve them. I hated walking into the kitchen and having that sulfurous smell smack me in the face, knowing it was going to be a long night before I finally got the courage to eat them and be dismissed. To make matters worse, my mom would make us drink milk for dinner. Milk + Brussels Sprouts. Sick! And then to top it off, the icing on the cake, my mom never made my dad eat his brussels sprouts. She'd always put them on his plate, but he'd ignore them and she wouldn't say a word. I couldn't wait til the day I was a grown up and got to choose what I ate! Luckily, we had a crazy cat growing up that lived for brussels sprouts night. When mom wasn't looking, we'd "accidentally" drop one on the ground and our cat would run over and go to town with it. And once she'd gotten the taste of one, she spent the rest of the dinner trying to jump on the table to steal them off our plates. It was awesome.

After about an hour of online recipe searching, I decided on what looked like the best way to make them. Every recipe I read emphasized the importance of not over-cooking them because that is what caused the sulfurous smell to be released. I was encouraged. Maybe there was hope for this vegetable after all. I boiled them in 1/2 inch water for 7 minutes (recipe called for 8 minutes), then threw them into some butter and garlic and let them sizzle for a few minutes. They smelled heavenly. Ed kept remarking how great the kitchen smelled. I was genuinely excited. This was about to be breakthrough. I had sworn off brussels sprouts from my diet for the last 8 years.

Alas, they were just as bad as I had remembered. The outer layers that had gotten soaked in butter and garlic were pretty tasty, but those inner layers were as bitter and nasty as ever. Ed, being the sweet heart that he is, acted like he was enjoying them for the first few. He even threw in a "mmmmmm...delicious!" remark. By the third one, I was almost gagging. I told him it was ok, he didn't have to lie, and he slowly let his guard down and agreed that they were repulsive. We then argued on who had to eat the rest of them since we don't like to waste food. Luckily, Ed suggested putting some hot sauce on them to mask the flavor, and it worked! They weren't half bad after that. Thank goodness I served a delicious pot roast and fruit salad along with those brussels sprouts, or else it would have been my worst failure yet as a wife.

Needless to say, I am not going to make my poor husband or kids suffer through a meal with brussels sprouts. It's inhumane - cat food, I tell you. Unfortunately, this just leaves me right where I was before - in dire need of new vegetable side dishes. Please, help a young wife out! :)

Momentary Escape

2011-06-10T20:46:00.002-04:00

It seems rare these days that I have time to sit and do nothing. I'm not saying that my schedule is busier than the average person, it's just that if I have a few hours off, I usually entertain myself with movies, eating, or friends/family. It seems about once or twice a year I find myself alone for an extended period of time, bored of watching TV, having already completed chores that need to be done, and I have time to reflect.

Ed is on psychiatry call at the hospital tonight, and I just spent the last 2 hours cleaning our room (yes, it was that messy). So, what do I do when I finally sit down to relax?...get on Facebook of course. Instead of reading the latest status updates, or stalking some friends, I decided to look through some of my old photo albums. You wouldn't think that would be exciting, considering I have all those pictures saved on my computer, and I was the one that posted them in the first place. But tonight there was no agenda, no hustle or bustle, so I let my mind take a stroll down memory lane. Before I knew it, my heart started aching. Literally, I felt an emotional squeezing sensation in my chest. Then my stomach started getting hyperactive. Before I knew it, I was tearing up. Here I am, sitting on my couch in the dark, all alone, with a computer on my lap, crying.

Why, you ask? I have no idea. Which is why I decided to blog about it. Maybe putting something down on paper would clear it up. So from where did the emotions arise? Are they happy or sad tears? I think both.

Happy tears because I look back at all the incredible times I had growing into the woman I am today. All the fun-loving, energetic, smart, talented people that I have come in contact with throughout my adult life. I got to travel all over the world with my AIA soccer girls. I was in the best shape of my life, battling my heart out on the field every Friday night and Sunday afternoon. I was so proud every time I put on my jersey with either Kentucky or Texas A&M on the front. Joyfully, I remember how I protected my heart and my body, saving it for my husband. Happy tears pouring out, each symbolizing a different way I have been blessed with my experiences and friendships.

Sad tears for all the regrets. Heartache for lost opportunities to share my faith with people I was with every day, but was too afraid they would think I was a freak if I showed them who I really was. So many of the pictures I look back at from my UK undergraduate days, I can see how much I longed to be accepted. It brings back the memories of always thinking I wasn't as pretty as my friends or as cool as my teammates. Also, grief for not keeping up with the friends, especially those at A&M. People that I love just as much today as when I was with them daily 3+ years ago, but don't talk to nearly as much as I know I should.

Most of all, I believe I cry because I know I can't recreate those times again. As much as I want to go back to College Station and meet up with my best friends and create new memories, it won't be the same as when we were really in the moment. I'll never be an Aggie soccer babe again. I'll never have the hard rock abs and killer legs. I'll never be single and free to do what I want, when I want. I'll never get to have that first time "ah ha" moment when my faith became real. I can't help but ponder, did I really take full advantage of that time in my life?

Where does that leave me now? Tonight. June 10, 2011. I'm now very happily married, less than a year from becoming a doctor. I have a wonderful home, a supporting family living in the same city, my health, and a future that is beautifully uncertain. I'm filled with hope for how God will use me - as a wife, mother, physician, and friend. Will I be moving half way around the world to Hawaii this time next year? Or maybe I'll be going back to God's country, Texas? Who knows? But I do know that in a few years from now, I'll look back at my time during medical school and shed tears of joy and sorrow, much like tonight when I long for my undergraduate days.

My heart is full. :)

Yet another one bites the dust.

2011-05-23T18:04:00.001-04:00

My beautiful Maid of Honor from my wedding last summer, Alexandra, has officially tied the knot. I had the privilege of being her Matron of Honor this past weekend in Houston. Our friendship means the world to me. We've only known each other for 6 years, and 3 of those have been spent 1000+ miles apart, but nothing can separate our souls. I'm the jock, she's the sorority chick...and we just click. Love you so much, Alex. You were a stunning bride.

The wedding was AWESOME...great food, beautiful flowers, fantastic band. A perfect evening. Congrats again, Alex and Chris! Hope you're having fun in St. Lucia!!!

"We got Kentucky back."

2011-03-27T22:18:00.002-04:00

Cats beat UNC 76 - 69 tonight in the East Regional Final.

I'm still way too excited to string together two thoughts, so all I'm gonna say is GO BIG BLUE! It's such a thrill being a UK student while all this is going on. Campus is going crazy. Cops are everywhere. I only wish I could go with my family to the Final Four next weekend, but I'll be cheering my behind off from here in Lexington. Thanks, Jorts, for giving us the "Kentucky" back that we all know and love. And it feels oh so sweet to do this by beating Ohio State and UNC.

Final Four bound, baby! Houston, watch out!

LOVE this team.

Happy Things

2011-03-22T20:35:00.003-04:00

Home-cooked meals.

UK basketball wins.

Weddings.

Picking fresh veggies and flowers from the garden.

Adorable nieces.

Approaching College Station, TX on Highway 6, blaring the Aggie war hymn with the windows down, warm air in your face.

Smell of freshly cut grass.

Quiet evenings in with the hubby.

Post work-out highs.

Thinking about how cute my mixed kids are going to be.

Freckles.

Sunsets.

And of course, Disney World - The Happiest Place on Earth.

These are a few of my favorite things.

Thanks, but no thanks

2011-03-09T20:50:00.003-05:00

I'm on my Emergency Medicine rotation right now and my lack of experience and confidence is biting me in the tail. Unlike our other rotations during third year, we are not assigned to a particular resident or attending physician who is to mentor, teach, and tell us what to do. I am completely on my own when I show up to the ER. I can do whatever I want whenever I want it. Freedom. Some thrive off of this (ie my husband). Others struggle (me). We have a list of things we have to get done during this short rotation, such as starting IVs, placing a foley and NG tube, doing a stint and laceration repair, etc. But there is no one there to make sure I get it done. It's up to me, which means I have to steal it away from one of the residents. I am not nearly aggressive enough to get in on the good stuff.

Confession: I am a third year medical student who has never put in an IV. We spend so much time book learning and do not get nearly enough hands on education.

Yesterday I decided I needed to "man" up and just do it. I went up to one of the EMS guys and asked him to show me how to place an IV on the next patient that comes in and then let me do it from then on. He was very accepting and was excited about teaching me, so after showing me on the first patient, he grabbed me to take me to the next room where it was my turn to try. I walked into a room with him to find a neurotic 45 year old man that had interesting views on life, and we were his audience for the moment. He explained to me how he doesn't trust MDs, only DOs. Army nurses are the only nurses that know how to place an IV because they are taught in stressful situations. He then told me how he never lets attractive doctors near him because they only got where they are because of their looks, not their brains. He then looks straight at me and says, "Yeah, so that means you better not touch me." Ummm, thanks for the complement, kind of.

I botched my next opportunity on a guy that was screaming bloody murder as I tried to stick him. Luckily the nurse messed up twice after me (well, luckily for my ego, not for the patient) and another nurse had to come in and give it a try. My confidence was down to zero at this point, but the EMS guys came to the rescue. They let me practice on them. Yes, that's right, they sacrificed their own bodies for a scared little med student who had no idea what she was doing. I am forever grateful.

Today I was assigned to Fire Station #1 in Lexington for an EMS ride-a-long. Once again, the paramedics were awesome and let me do whatever I wanted. I didn't get to stick the first patient we picked up because she was having seizures and was mentally handicapped plus had CP, so not the easiest thing in the world. But the second patient was perfect. A young, mostly healthy woman who was having abdominal pain. Easy stick opportunity. That is, until mama hopped in the back of the ambulance with us. When the medic explained to the patient that I was a medical student and would love to try to start the IV, she was cool about it. As I moved into position to start, the mom whispered to the Major on board, "She's suffering enough, I don't think we should make her suffer any more." "Huh?" he responds. "I'd really rather the medical student not touch my daughter." That wasn't awkward at all.

And then to end the day, the Chief of the station came up to me and started chit chatting. After about 5 minutes, he asks what program I am with. I tell him I'm a 3rd year medical student on my ER rotation, and he looks at me funny and says, "What? A medical student?! How old are you?" "26, sir. Why, how old did you think I am?" "19, tops." In some ways I guess that's a complement, but at the same time, I wish I looked a little more mature. No wonder people don't want me sticking them. I wouldn't want a 19 year old poking me with a needle either.

Stereotypes

2011-03-07T20:41:00.002-05:00

Since entering the medical profession I have learned there is a lot of competition and, dare I say, contempt amongst physicians. I had no idea until I started clinicals this year and have had the opportunity to see physicians bash each other time and time again. Here are a few examples of what I've learned. Note: these are NOT my stereotypes, but ones that definitely exist. I do not agree with many of them, and there obviously are exceptions to the rule, but they are pretty amusing.

1. Pediatricians hate surgeons. In their minds, surgeons exist only to torture their little, precious patients and are the real enemy, not the disease.

2. Cardiologists think they are God's gift to mankind.

3. Surgeons think OB/Gyn physicians are butchers. They get so little surgical training compared to a surgery residency, there is no way they could do a good job.

4. Everybody hates Dermatologists because they work ~30 hours a week, have no call, work no weekends, and make 4x as much as the average physician.

5. Neurologists are obnoxious.

6. If you like people and have an ounce of personality, then you don't go into Anesthesiology, Radiology, Pathology, or Emergency Medicine. Basically, you don't do the "shift work" fields of medicine.

7. It's Emergency Medicine versus the world. I have to say this is the strongest rivalry in medicine. I have had at least 5 different physicians in different fields ask me what I am going into, and then respond, "Oh thank God, not Emergency Medicine."

8. Family physicians are the stupid people who can't get into any other field.

9. Psychiatrists are lazy.

10. Internal medicine doctors think surgeons don't know how to think. They are nothing but a good pair of hands who have mastered a skill, and their brains bring nothing to the intellectual table. Surgeons think internal medicine doctors never do anything, they just sit there all day wasting people's time and resources by taking days to diagnose pneumonia, only after ordering a battery of tests to rule out the most crazy diseases in the world.

Well, I'm back...

2011-02-26T22:31:00.007-05:00

...but this time as Mrs. Chang.

Marriage is a trip. Tons of fun. I really recommend it. I don't understand why people say it's a hard adjustment. Hasn't been for us. Hello, I'm roomies with my best friend. And he pays the bills. All I have to do is a make him coffee in the morning, pack him a lunch, cook him dinner, do the laundry, clip his nails, and tell him he's amazing every day, all the while pulling 12 hour days at the hospital. Oh wait, maybe that isn't such a fair trade-off? Just kidding. He also mows the lawn, takes out the trash, cleans the dishes, mops/vacuums the floors, and puts up with me. He is well on his way to earning Husband of the Year award.

Ed and I have so much fun hanging out at home that we have become somewhat anti-social. You really have to do some hard convincing to get us out. We didn't go to one UK football or basketball game this year, but we watched every single one of them on our wonderful couch in front of our awesome TV. You can't beat the luxury of home: clean bathroom with no wait, stocked refrigerator, and temperature control. We aren't bad fans. We just really, really like our house. And Netflix has only added to this problem.

I love cooking. It came out of nowhere. I have become so domestic since moving into our home. While I still have a long way to go before I consider myself a chef, my hubby is a gem and always compliments me on my cooking. Every night when I tell him dinner is ready and he comes to the dining room, he looks at the food and says emphatically "This is my favorite!" You think I'd get annoyed by this since he has said it at least 100 times, but it melts my heart every time because he seems so sincere. I got myself a good one.

Med school is flying by. Third year really is so much better than the first two years. No more classroom and library time. While the hours can be tough, I'm not going to complain. Impacting patient's lives rock. Definitely glad I'm going into medicine. I'm currently deciding what to do with the rest of my life. Ed is pursuing ENT. I know I want to do primary care (although my dad is doing everything in his power to get me do a sub-specialty). Family Medicine is in the lead right now. Love the variety. Love knowing something about everything. Love outpatient medicine. Love relationships with patients. Peds and Internal Medicine are also in the running, but I don't think I'm willing to give up a population (children or adults) if I go into either of those. Combined Med/Peds was in the running for a while, but none of the programs I am applying to have that as an option. Plus, I lose the OB/Gyn training if I do that.

Oh, so I'm guessing you want to know where we are going after medical school? Well as I'm sure most of you know, Ed is on an Army Scholarship for medical school, so he will be doing a military residency. There are only 4 bases in the country that have ENT programs: Hawaii, Tacoma/Seattle, San Antonio, and Washington DC. We are heavily pursuing the first two, but could end up at any of them since residency placement is a "Match" program where you interview multiple places and send in a rank list of your top places, and the programs submit a rank list of their top applicants, and a computer spits out the best match. Slightly stressful, but fun at the same time.

More updates to come soon. It feels good to be back. Give me some input - what field of medicine do you think I should go into?

100 Days

2010-04-09T22:45:00.003-04:00

The next 100 days are going to be intense.

I'm finishing up my second year of medical school, which is crazy to me because I feel like it just started. I have 7 more tests until I am half way to my degree. Exciting, except for the fact that I have to get at least a 90% on most of them if I want to get an A in the class. But I'm not here to complain. When I look back at my life this time last year, I was stressed about passing! I actually have the opportunity to pull out a 4.0 for this year if I can pull those A's out on these last few tests. It's going to be tough. I got my work cut out for me! But oh, what a difference a year can make.
...28 days

The day after I finish finals, I am a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's weddings. I am so blessed to call Ashley a friend, and I am incredibly pumped about Tommy and her tying the knot on May 8. They started dating about 2 months before Ed and I, and here they are getting married 2 months before we are. It's been so fun going through the highs and lows of being single, then dating, and now both being engaged to the men of our dreams together.
...29 days

That next Tuesday starts the most important 5 weeks of my academic career thus far - USMLE Step 1 studying. While most people have no idea what that means (and I envy you), those who do know how intimidating this process is. One test determines my career as a doctor. This 3 number score will be permanently tagged next to my name on all residency applications. It is more important than my GPA, research, extracurricular activities, or "who you know." If I do well, I can enter whatever medical field I desire. If I do average (which most people do, haha), I can go ahead and cross off all the competitive specialties. If I don't pass, I have to repeat second year. I'm not too optimistic about it, considering my track record with standardized exams is pretty bleak. But hopefully with 10+ hours of studying a day for 5 weeks, I'll be able to pull it out. DDay = June 16th.
...68 days

About one month after I finish boards, I get to marry my superman. While there is much to do between now and then in regards to wedding planning, I am so excited for July 18th! It is definitely the thing keeping my spirits high during this stressful time. I can't wait to be Mrs./Dr. Chang! I must admit that there are 2 drawbacks for the name change: (1) I will never get to be called "Dr. Jones, Dr. Jones!!" like in Indiana Jones, and (2) I fear my future patients will show up to my office expecting to see a smart, Asian doctor, and then find some dumb, white chick instead. Also, I am looking forward to moving into Ed's adorable home. I have had enough of these loud, ghetto, undergrad-filled apartments. I can't wait to have a roommate again! :) But even before enjoying that home together, I am slightly looking forward to the honeymoon. Tahiti here we come.
...100 days

The Proposal

2010-02-10T14:21:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the delay on the proposal story. It's been a hectic month with both wedding planning and school, but I came to realization today that my life is going to stay that way until I get done with boards in June, so I might as well write the blog now. Keep in mind that I have a test tomorrow that I need to be studying for, so you aren't going to get all the nitty-gritty, dirty details, but it will suffice. Drum roll please....

The Set Up:

It was our first week back to classes after Christmas break, and I was already in high stress mode. Not only was I freaking out about all the tests coming up that I needed to do really well on, but I was also having mini panic attacks whenever the looming Step 1 board exam came to mind. I decided I needed to start doing some stress relieving exercises so that I didn't implode before this summer ever arrived. After much research online, I came up with my plan: eat healthier, exercise regularly, pray more, and get massages. It was going to be the cure to my stress, I was sure of it. So I called and set up a massage for that Friday afternoon, and the only time available was 4pm. I took it, marked it on the calendar, and went on with my week.

Ed was extremely busy that week. He was going into his lab more than usual to get extra research done and he was spending more time interviewing and seeing patients than usual, but he was happy as a clam. I was a little frustrated that he was gone so much, but it was hard to get too upset because he was doing things that were important to his education. Little did I know that the time spent in the lab on Monday was him meeting with my dad to ask permission for my hand. And then the time spent with patients on Tuesday afternoon was really him driving to and from Cincinnati to go purchase my ring. Tricky little guy.

On Thursday afternoon, Andrew informed me that he was leaving the next day to go back to Wheaton College in Chicago, instead of Sunday like he had originally planned. He asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch on Friday, but I thought we should have a more formal going away party for him. I called up Mom and told her we should go out to eat that night as a family. She was so confused and kept arguing with me that Andrew wasn't leaving until Sunday, so we could do it later that weekend. She didn't believe me so she called Andrew and asked what was going on. He explained to her that this fake goodbye party was needed for Ed's proposal story, so she needed to play along. Mama called me back and said I was right, he was leaving, so we made plans to meet at Ramsey's for dinner that night. We had a great dinner, then Ed and I said our goodbyes to Andrew and went back to our studying.

The Scene:

Friday afternoon finally arrived. I dropped Ed off at his lab like usual at 1 pm so he could get some research done, and I went back to my apartment to study and get some other errands done before my massage at 4pm. The plan was for me to pick him up when I was done with my massage. I went into the massage feeling like crap (for lack of a better word); I was so incredibly stressed out. I had all the classic symptoms of anxiety - muscle tension, light headed, indigestion, fatigue, etc. An hour later, I came out feeling like a new woman. I was excited to see Ed and let him know how great I felt and how ready I was tackle the studying that needed to be done. I got to my car and found my phone - 2 missed calls and a missed text message from Andrew (my brother). "Call me ASAP," it read.

I called him to find out his car had broken down on his drive back to college. He hadn't made it very far, so he was wondering if I could pick him up. He couldn't get a hold of mom or dad, and he was desperate for a ride. He claimed his car had already been towed, and a nice lady had picked him up on the side of the road and given him a ride to her work (the Castle in Versailles, KY, about 30 minutes from where I live). He had been waiting there for a while now, unable to get a hold of anyone in the family, and was obviously frustrated. I didn't really want to go out there alone, so I called Ed to see if I could pick him up before I started heading out to get Andrew. He didn't answer my calls or texts. It was absolutely freezing outside, and snow was covering the ground, so it was slightly scary to drive, but Andrew had caught me in a good mood after the massage, so I started driving out to rescue my baby bro.

About 15 minutes later, Ed finally calls back and apologizes for not answering earlier. He had his phone on silent in his pocket, so he didn't know I had called. He was frustrated because he would have definitely driven out there with me, and he knew we wouldn't see each other for another hour or two now. We stayed on the line talking until I got to the castle, and I told him I needed to call Andrew to figure out exactly where to go. Andrew gave me directions to where he was, and asked me to park and come inside to see the place since we had driven by it a million times but never stopped there before.

I walked in the huge front doors expecting to see Andrew waiting right inside, but instead I was greeted by a concierge lady. "Are you Elisabeth?," she asked. "Your brother is right around the corner." It was at that moment that I realized what was going on. Everything clicked as I turned the corner to see Ed standing there in his nicest suit, holding a dozen roses and a little blue ring box. I screamed "I KNEW IT!", even though I had only known for 0.5 seconds. He hugged me, then immediately got down on his knee. He had a whole spiel that was incredibly sweet and romantic, then he asked me to be his wife. I was shaking so much from both shock and excitement that I could barely get out the answer. I managed to whisper "yes," and he put the ring on my finger and jumped up to hug and kiss me.

At this point I was still in shock, and I didn't even know how to react, except to say that I felt so stupid being in my grungy clothes and pig tails. It was the perfect set-up for him to explain that he had prepared for that and gotten a hotel room upstairs for me to shower and change into a dress that he had brought for me. We went upstairs to find chocolate covered strawberries and 2 glasses of champagne waiting for us. We celebrated up there in private, then I got ready and joined him downstairs for our 5 course dinner. We had a private room and chef for the evening. After the awesome meal, we packed up our stuff and headed over to my parent's house to share the good news with them.

It was a magical evening. I still can't believe he was able to pull it off so flawlessly. From the beautiful ring he picked out, to the surprise factor, to having my family involved, I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect. I can't wait to marry the man I love and spend the rest of my life with him. I am the luckiest girl in the world!!

I'm ENGAGED!!!

2010-01-09T09:37:00.002-05:00

More to come later, just wanted to update the blogosphere. Here's a pic to hold you over until the details come!

:)))))))))))))

Tear my heart open

2009-11-29T12:46:00.003-05:00

Last night's loss to Tennessee ripped me to pieces. I have not been that frustrated about a UK loss since the basketball team fell to Marquette (and Dwayne Wade) in the Elite 8 of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. The common denominator in those games: I thought we were going to win. No, I was convinced we were going to win. Even though our football team was on a 24 year losing streak to those white trash hicks from Knoxville, I believed this was the year it was finally going to end. We were playing for everything in this game - a 2nd place finish in the SEC East, a senior day win against our bitter rivals, and a chance to play in a New Years Day (ie respectable) bowl game. We were coming off a huge win at Georgia last week. It seemed as if all the stars were lining up for us. And then what do we do? Our "Head coach in waiting" calls an absolutely atrocious call on 3rd and 9 with 35 seconds left in regulation, putting the game in the hands of a true freshman quarterback who was playing the worst half of football of his life. We have one of the best athletes in the country on our team with Cobb, and we don't even include him on the play. What a JOKE. As soon as we settled for that field goal to tie it up, I knew the game was over. UK football won't go anywhere if Barnhart really does leave this team to Joker Phillips.

I don't know why I let myself get so emotionally involved in UK football, because it always leaves me in disappointment. I need to stick to expecting the worst and being pleasantly surprised if we happen to win. That approach is much better on my health, both mental and physical. I am already wrapped up emotionally in UK basketball, I can't handle much more. And neither can my poor boyfriend, who has to take the brunt of my frustration.

PS - I find it ironic that both of my schools (UK and A&M) play their rivals on Thanksgiving weekend every year, both opponents are "UT", and both wear a disgusting shade of orange (burnt orange for the t-sips and construction worker orange for the Vols). It does not leave me a happy girl when both teams lose to these orange clad freaks, which unfortunately is usually the case. :(

Weekend in Paradise: My Dream Home

2009-11-22T21:30:00.006-05:00

The day the super hero pooped on my front porch.

2009-11-04T13:34:00.005-05:00

Halloween has always been one of those holidays that just didn't do anything for me. It's not that I don't like holidays, because I do, I absolutely love Thanksgiving and Christmas. But it seems like everyone these days lives for Halloween. It has become the most popular holiday of my generation. I am not here to discuss the spiritual aspects of Halloween, because that is not the reason for my distaste. I personally do not think it is heathen to let your kids dress up and go trick-or-treating, or for adults to put on a costume and go have a good time at a party. I've been known to do that myself a time or two. But there is one pervading theme at the end of all my Halloween experiences - it's just not that fun. Maybe it's because I've never had the perfect costume, or maybe because I hate going out only to find some of my friends dressed up like sluts for the sake of a "costume". Who knows, all this bitterness could be due to the fact that my favorite childhood pet, Chadwick, was killed by my rambunctious teenage neighbors at their Halloween party simply because they saw a black cat walking down the street and they decided it'd be funny to throw him to his death in the neighborhood pool. Whatever the case, I am just not too keen about Halloween.

This Halloween provided yet another reason for me to find the holiday annoying. On Friday, October 30, I had taken my cumulative final examination for my Immunity and Infectious Disease class. Having never studied for anything so hard in my life, I was absolutely exhausted and beat by the time the weekend of freedom arrived. While most college students were gearing up to go out for all the Halloween festivities, I was winding down and getting ready to catch some much needed Z's.

Ed and I had watched a semi-scary movie on TV earlier that evening, and while I was somewhat scared from it, I convinced myself that it was just a stupid movie and that I'd be fine. Ed tucked me into bed and then left my apartment to go back to his place. A little before 3 am I woke up suddenly. Not knowing what caused me to do this, I figured I must have been having a dream. As I rolled over to try to fall back asleep I heard a noise. Now let me first say that I live in an apartment complex full of undergrad students, so it is always loud. I think normally I would have shrugged off the noise, but due to being on edge because of the scary movie I'd watched, I immediately picked up my phone and called Ed. I was afraid I would wake him up, but of course my night owl was still wide awake. I explained to him I heard something and he told me to not worry, he'd come over to check it out. FYI, he lives about 5 minutes from my apartment.

I hung up with him and once again rolled over to try to fall asleep, but then I heard the noise again, and this time it was louder. I turned on my bedroom lights, thinking that if someone was really out there and they saw that someone was inside, they'd panic and leave. Well the noises only started getting louder, and then I heard yelling. I opened up my bedroom door and looked down the hall and realized that the noise was coming from my front door. Someone was messing with the door knob. I immediately went to my bedroom, opened up my back window in case I needed an escape, grabbed a wood plank for protection, and called Ed again to let him know that someone was trying to get inside. He at first told me to calm down and that no one was really there, but then I walked up to the door and looked in the peep hole and sure enough saw a guy standing there messing with the door handle. I then screamed to Ed on the phone, "No, I am not making this up, I am staring at a guy right now!!!" Well that blew my cover with the intruder, and he started to yell at me. "Let me in! I hear you! LET ME IN!" Not knowing what to do, I figured I couldn't just ignore him since he knew I was in there, so I answered in a deep voice (trying to sound like a man, which was an absolute failure), "GO AWAY! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DOOR!" I felt bad for throwing the H word in there, but I needed to sound intimidating. I started beating the door and telling him to stop messing with me or else I'd call the cops. He laughed at me, which only made me more mad, and kept screaming to let him in.

After my verbal exchange with the intruder and physical exchange with the door (which probably lasted all of 10 seconds but felt like an eternity), I called 911. I explained the dilemna and the dispatcher told me that cops were on their way. She then asked me for details of what the guy looked like. "6 foot white male, about 20 years old" I answered. "What's he wearing?," she asked. I looked out the peep hole again to see. "A green sweatshirt, red cape, and no pants." Trying to hold back her laughter, the dispatcher told me she'd stay on the line with me as long as I needed or until the cops got there. I figured that it would be a good idea in case the guy got in, but then came the awkward silence. What do you talk to a 911 dispatcher about when you are waiting for a guy to break into your house? So I made some small talk. "If this guy gets into my apartment, am I allowed to hit him with my bat? Can I bash his head in?" She did not know how to respond to that, so after fumbling around for words, she said that I was allowed to protect myself if he did in fact get into my apartment. That made me feel better. I then let the lady know that my boyfriend was also on his way over to my apartment, so that the cops wouldn't beat him up if they happened to see him first.

Finally, I heard Ed run around the corner. My first thought was "Thank you Lord", but before that thought came to completion, a new thought emerged - what if Ed entered his "protective boyfriend that has way too many years of Army Special Forces training and can kill someone with one swift movement" mode? Fortunately, the stench of the gentleman intruder stopped Ed dead in his tracks. Ed would not get within 6 feet of him. The guy had pooped his pants, wadded them up and thrown them against my door, and was standing there in his underwear (not boxers, but undies) with poop all over his body. Ed told him to get away, and the guy kept saying that he wasn't going any where, this was his friend's apartment. Once Ed realized that this guy wasn't trying to break in or rape me, and that he was just completely wasted and high and had no idea where he was, he calmed down a bit. Ed tried to reason with the guy that he was in the wrong place, but the superhero was not going to budge.

The cops showed up shortly after, running to my front door from both angles so that the guy couldn't escape if he tried. But then all 3 of them did the same thing Ed did....sprinted all heroically around the corner then STOPPED within 6 feet. "What is that smell?!?," one of the cops yelled. Apparently it was atrocious; I never got a whiff of it. No one wanted to touch the guy, but the cops realized that he needed to be handcuffed and taken in. After finding a pair of gloves, one of the cops cuffed him. The guy mouthed off to the cop, so he tightened the cuffs another notch and threw the guy against the wall. It was beautiful. For the first time in my life, I liked the Po-Po.

I never got to thank the cops. I guess they didn't want to go through the trouble of filing a report, so they didn't even come talk to me. They did their job and left, which I was perfectly fine with. I had been all strong and put together during the whole ordeal, but when I finally got to see Ed afterwards, I fell into his arms and lost it, bawling my eyes out. I am such a girl.

I don't think there will be any long term consequences of this encounter with the pooping superhero intruder, but you never know. I do have a bruised fist from pounding the door, and I am still a little jittery at nights, but I expect a full recovery.

Until next Halloween....

Just call me Tim.

2009-10-23T11:11:00.007-04:00

I wrote a blog not too long ago about how my competitiveness has dwindled since starting medical school. I sincerely believed this to be true when I put it down for the world to see, but I now must recant that statement. I am just as crazy competitive as I used to be, it's just that academia did not provide the proper platform to display it. Apparently all I need is a sports field...

Intramural flag football started up this month, and I signed up to play for the Microtubulies, the co-ed team comprised of my fellow 2nd year classmates. This was the same team I played with last year that lost in the Class A finals. We were winning with 2 minutes left and then choked and lost by 2 points. Not that I am bitter or anything. I also unwillingly signed up out for our class's all girl's team, the Snarfs, because they were desperate for more numbers. When enough people guilt-tripped me about dashing their dreams of getting to play if I didn't play, I gave in and reluctantly showed up to the first game. Sure enough, the Snarfs have been my favorite team to play with this season. Playing with girls really is more fun because everyone is so excited when we do anything right. Constant cheering and high-fiving is great for morale.

All was fine and dandy until we showed up to play the 3rd year medical student's team. The 2nd years had an exam the next day so we all knew we should skip the game to study, but how could we miss the chance to play our friends and supposedly the "best" team in the league? Eight girls showed up (exactly how many you need to field a team), but unfortunately everyone (including me) was completely exhausted and distracted. We played poorly the first half which was mostly our fault (read: I threw 3 interceptions), but more-so, the refs were out to get us the entire game. I won't go into it, but it was the most pathetic display of refereeing I had ever seen. They had to be getting something under the table. It got the point where half of our team was laughing at every call, and the other half cursing (plus, mix a few tears in as well to get the whole picture). I went up to the refs multiple times and yelled in their faces, dissing not only their play-calling abilities, but their personal lives. It was not one of my high points. I am somewhat surprised I didn't get thrown out. On top of that, the girls we played, who typically are our friends and peers off the field (some of which come to my bible study), were as obnoxious as could be. They played dirty, cheated whenever possible, and tried to hurt us when the refs weren't watching (which was most of the time.) I still can't look some of them in the face.

We ended up winning on a crazy last second touchdown, but I was still so frustrated with the refs and the opponent that I couldn't enjoy the victory. I ingenuously applauded the other team's effort as I disdainfully shook their hands, and then stormed off the field. Upon returning home, I showered and attempted to calm down so I could focus on my studies again, but my efforts proved unsuccessful, so I gave up and went to bed. I laid in bed until 3 am that night, replaying the game in my head and the mistakes I made. I kept trying to remind myself that we won, but it didn't help. I had not been that upset about anything since losing to t.u. in the last game of my college soccer career.

Luckily this week's opponent was not nearly as talented, and we coasted to an easy victory. My team was not nearly as emotionally involved this time, but the sorority chicks we played were not too happy with our domination, particularly when it came to me. "Someone do a chromosome test on #14, because there is no way she's a girl!," I heard after scoring my first touchdown. After the 2nd TD, one girl blurted out, "I didn't realize we had to play Tim Tebow tonight!," which of course got a huge reaction from the crowd (20 people), so the rest of the game their coaches kept screaming "watch Tebow.....get Tebow!!" I've never been a huge fan of Tebow because of all the media hype he gets, but I now have a new-found affinity and appreciation for Florida's QB.

Playoffs start next week. Hopefully I bring home two IM championships, or else things could get ugly. My competitiveness has been locked up for too long, and now that it has been released, there's no turning back. It's go time baby.

All Hail Mr. Nobel Peace Prize Winner

2009-10-09T15:44:00.005-04:00

I was going to attempt to write a witty article about the farce that just occurred with B.O. being awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, but I think I will just let other people do the honor (I'm not that great of a writer any way.) It's not like I have anything new to add to the table. I think everyone agrees that it was unmerited.

A compilation of various articles and comments about the Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision:

How to Win the Nobel Peace

Prize In 12 Days

Let’s take a look at the president’s first 12 days in the White House according to his public schedule to see what he did to deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.

Editor's Note: Although President Obama had only been in office for 12 days before the nominations for this year's Nobel Peace prize closed the entire process actually takes a full year. According to the official Nobel Prize Web site invitation letters are sent out in September. Every year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee sends out thousands of letters inviting a qualified and select number of people to submit their nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The deadline to submit nominations is February 1. -- Two hundred five names were submitted for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, 33 of which are organizations. A short list of nominees is prepared in February and March. The short list is subject to adviser review from March until August. At the beginning of October, the Nobel Committee chooses the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates through a majority vote. The decision is final and without appeal. The names of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are then announced."

Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize this morning. Over the last decade the only requirement to win the prize was that the nominee had to be critical of George W. Bush (see Al Gore, Mohamed El Baradei and Jimmy Carter).

President Obama has broken new ground here. Nominations for potential winners of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ended on February 1. The president took office only 12 days earlier on January 20.

Let’s take a look at the president’s first 12 days in the White House according to his public schedule to see what he did to deserve a Nobel Peace Prize:

January 20: Sworn in as president. Went to a parade. Partied.

January 21: Asked bureaucrats to re-write guidelines for information requests. Held an “open house” party at the White House.

January 22: Signed Executive Orders: Executive Branch workers to take ethics pledge; re-affirmed Army Field Manual techniques for interrogations; expressed desire to close Gitmo (how’s that working out?)

January 23: Ordered the release of federal funding to pay for abortions in foreign countries. Lunch with Joe Biden; met with Tim Geithner.

January 24: Budget meeting with economic team.

January 25: Skipped church.

January 26: Gave speech about jobs and energy. Met with Hillary Clinton. Attended Geithner's swearing in ceremony.

January 27: Met with Republicans. Spoke at a clock tower in Ohio.

January 28: Economic meetings in the morning, met with Defense secretary in the afternoon.

January 29: Signed Ledbetter Bill overturning Supreme Court decision on lawsuits over wages. Party in the State Room. Met with Biden.

January 30: Met economic advisers. Gave speech on Middle Class Working Families Task Force. Met with senior enlisted military officials.

January 31: Took the day off.

February 1: Skipped church. Threw a Super Bowl party.

So there you have it. The short path to the Nobel Peace Prize: Party, go to meetings, skip church, release federal funding to pay for abortions in foreign countries, party some more.

Good grief.

Article by Tommy De Seno, FOXNews.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following are from my friend's status updates on Facebook:

~Scoff all you like, sir. Just remember that during that time Obama managed not only to move into the White House, but also to adopt a puppy. The man is a multi-tasking saint.

~Bill Clinton should be the most upset today.

~This award has become a joke. It lost credibility with me when Al Gore nearly won it for "fighting global warming", despite consuming more energy then most. He did "invent" the internet though...not. The fact that he won does not surprise me. Hitler gave great speeches too, so let's posthumously just give him one if that is the only qualification.

~the Nobel Committee ought to know that we've made wonderful advances in treating premature laureation.

~I used to get participation trophies in little league.

~hasn't any one heard of PRE-season MVP?!!?

~I gave all of my patients meds on time yesterday and cleaned up vomit off the floor....... can I get a Nobel Peace Prize??

~(by the editor of 12th Man Magazine): Dear Pulitzer Prize Commitee, I have a great idea for a magazine story I'd like to write. It will unite people of all colors and creeds and change the world. I haven't written an outline yet, don't have any main characters or plot line...s developed, and I likely will actually never write it, but I'd like you to consider me for this year's Pulitzer Prize. Thanks.

~I'm pretty sure it's because he has 'a dream'....I, too, believe in peace and love...and also read a mean teleprompter. I think I deserve the Nobel Peace Prize!

~Kanye West: "Yo, Obama, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Al Gore won one of the best Nobel Peace Prizes of all time."

Big Blue Sadness

2009-10-04T17:09:00.004-04:00

With all the hoopla surrounding UK Basketball, I was hoping to get in on a pair of tickets to this year's Big Blue Madness, the first official practice of the year. Thousands of people camped out at Memorial Coliseum all last week so that they could be the first in line to get their tickets come Saturday morning, but I did not think that was necessary. I would just have my men (Dad and Ed) get up at 5:55 am that morning and get online to buy them via Ticketmaster. That way they get a good night's rest in a warm bed, and not have to worry about the crazy tents and frigid weather. Much to my dismay, neither my father nor my beau-hunk were able to get tickets. Rumor has it that they sold out online in 2 minutes. I've even heard 14 seconds, but who knows. Needless to say, I doubt Ticketmaster has ever had 14,000 tickets sell out to an event between 6-6:02 am. That's Kentucky Basketball for you.

I should have been dedicated enough to get up at 6 am to try on the computer myself, but I really didn't think it'd matter. All the die-hards would be camping out, and the rest of the Big Blue Nation would just get around to buying the tickets online whenever they woke up Saturday morning. Well obviously I was wrong. I know tons of people who woke up that morning to come up empty handed, just like we did. Had I known this would have been the case, I would have definitely camped out. I'm fairly certain everyone who camped out was awarded 2 tickets. I could have endured one cold, sleepless night in order to get the chance to see my Wildcats storm Rupp Arena on October 16th. Heck, Calipari and the rest of the players were even out there hanging out with the fans, serving them food, playing corn hole, and throwing a football around. What was I thinking????? Grrrrr.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Yeehaw!!!

2009-09-21T18:04:00.002-04:00

I done got me a cowboy!

A Change of Luck

2009-09-15T13:15:00.006-04:00

I have become accustomed to not having things go my way over the past year, and I never thought much of it - I didn't pity myself or lose sleep over it because there is no such thing as luck any way. I got what I deserved. But now, as of late, I have been treading in unfamiliar waters. I have experienced the other side of luck, and dear Lord, I never want to go back.

My first test of the year was in Immunology. Immunity has always been one of those vague words that I never really grasped or understood. B cells, T cells, macrophages, neutrophils...I couldn't tell one from the other, much less their function. Then out of nowhere, I get a 73/75 on the examination (the class average was something like a 63/75). WHAT?! And then to top it off, the professor ended up accepting 2 answers (ie both "b" and "d") on 3 of the questions on the test, 2 of which happened to be the ones I missed, which put me at 75/75. But oh, I am not done. He decided to completely throw out one of the questions because it was poorly written, but if you got it right in the first place, he would not punish you, so that puts me at a 75/74 on the test. How does that happen?! Unbelievable luck, I tell you!

I was trying to think back to when this change of luck began, and I believe I have placed my finger on it: somewhere on the road between Seville and Madrid. The source: my iPod. Pressing the "shuffle" tab on your iPod is always a big risk. You never know what music the melody gods will choose for you that day, especially when your library encompasses everything from Coldplay to Casting Crowns to Chris Brown to classical music. That day, every song that was played brought a smile to my face.

I have an uncanny ability to remember songs. Not necessarily by their lyrics, or the artist, but often by the context that I first heard it. Almost every song in my music library has a story to go with it, and if you are ever with me on a road trip, you won't get more than 5 minutes of silence because every new song that comes on will be followed by an anecdote. But on that warm sunny day in Spain, I just sat back, listened to the iPod do its magic, and pondered all the memories that flooded my mind. Fortunately for you, I wrote down the songs afterward so that I could share these memories with you. iPod shuffle doesn't get much better than this.

"Me and Mrs. Jones" by Michael Buble - The spring of 2008 will go down as one of my favorite periods of time ever. That semester was my last of undergrad, I had no more college soccer obligations, and had already been accepted into medical school. Life was good, and much of that was due to Dr. Jerry Tsai, my biochemistry professor. I had the opportunity of getting to know him well over those few months, and one day in his office we were joking about my lack of a love life (not in a creepy way, I promise), and he boldly stated that I would know the person I was supposed to be with when I got serenaded with "Me and Mrs. Jones." I had never heard the song so I went home and downloaded it, and was shocked to hear it was about an affair. Nonetheless, it was a good memory, but it has not happened yet. (Don't get any ideas, Ed.)
"Beautiful Day" by U2 - Every time I hear this song I think of Spencer Green. I blogged about him in the past, so I won't waste your time here again, but this was the song he chose to be played at his funeral when they showed the slide show of his life. Surprisingly, this is a happy memory, because of the fact that he was able to bring so much glory to the Kingdom during his short 23 years on this earth.
"One by One" by Enya - Two words come to mind when I hear any song by Enya: Diana Davis, with whom I had the privilege of living with one year of college. That girl would blast this music while she worked on her honors thesis (about how Wal-Mart is the root of all evil...don't get me started on that). The only time Diana didn't have Enya blaring in the background was when she took the time to watch CNN and then come into my room and bash poor ole President Bush and everything Republican. While she intimidated me the first couple of months we lived together, I learned to love her fiery political side because she made me start thinking about why I believed what I did.
"Fidelity" by Regina Spektor - This was one of the songs that was on the CD that a certain someone made for me. This was probably the most awkward memory of my life.
"Out of My League" by Stephen Speaks - Mike McGuire let me borrow his Stephen Speaks CD my first semester at A&M, and my roommate Alex and I would lay in my bed with this song blaring on repeat, both in tears wishing that we had someone in our lives that would think this about us. Wow.
"Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin - Sarah Foster Gray and I became huge fans of Chris Tomlin after going to the Passion Conference during our junior year. When Tomlin came to A&M a few months later, SJ was dead set on going to his concert. She bought both of our tickets and even got a t-shirt for me. I had a good time, but she seemed so much more into it than me. I was starting to think it was because she was a better Christian than me, but then a few weeks later she spilled the beans. She was absolutely convinced that Chris Tomlin was the man she was supposed to marry. She had even written him a personal letter to tell him how much he inspired her. Much to her dismay (at the time), he never responded. Luckily, Sarah did end up getting her knight in shining armor, but his name was Kent, not Chris.

So thank you, iPod, for the change in fortune. I owe ya.

Writer's block

2009-09-02T13:19:00.006-04:00

It's been a while. Sorry about that. Between summer vacation, where I boycotted doing anything that required any effort, and the beginning of second year, where I got sucked back into the all-consuming world of immunology, I somehow managed to not blog for over a month. I promise not to leave you hanging like this again. I fear I may lose all readership if I don't continually post, but then I remember that my blog isn't that exciting in the first place, so I snap back to the reality that no one really cares that I didn't blog once during August. I digress.

When one does not post an entry for an extended period of time, one starts to feel immense pressure for the next post. It has to be a hit, a real stinger, something to make up for your extended period of absence. So when something minute and infinitesimal comes up that one might blog about in a normal situation, one pushes it to the side in hopes of coming across the the big fish later. In the mean time, the readers are left starving. Give them the little fish, I proclaim. Little fish are better than no fish!

So that is what you will be getting here. I have nothing profound to explain to the world, but if I do not get my fingers warm again by writing about something trivial and insignificant, I may just never blog again. And what a shame that would be. The world deserves better.

Here are some topics that I have considered blogging about, but did not feel the impetus to do so at the time. But quit complaining and just eat the goldfish, ok?!

I am now working out consistently. I run a 2.5 mile trail and then do abs about 5 times a week. I started doing it because SJ kicked my butt into gear a couple of months ago, making me get out of bed at 7:15am (during summer break, no less) to go run with her. I now go with my main squeeze almost every night, but he runs 3.5 miles in the time it takes me to run 2.5. I will catch him eventually, but I am currently content with my progress.
While most people gain the "Freshman 15" during their undergrad years, I had a delayed onset. The only pounds I gained during my freshman year were due to lifting weights for the first time in my life. Muscle weights more than fat, as I am sure most people know. I gained ~10 lbs of pure, lean muscle that year, and thought I'd never go back. The muscles that used to grace my legs and abdomen, have since deteriorated and turned to flab. I gained my "M1 15" last year, but I am now on track to lose it all, so don't fret.
I went to Spain for vacation the first week of August, and did not know what to expect. I took French in high school and college, so I knew nothing about the language or culture. I never took a Spanish history class, so I was ignorant of their days of old. Going in with no expectations ended up working out wonderfully. I would have probably been disappointed if I had, because Spanish food really isn't that good, their history is way too complex and not even their own (it's either Roman or Moorish invasion, time and time again), and everything is so expensive. But with that being said, it was beautiful. Perfect weather, unbelievable architecture, and friendly people. Sevilla was the highlight for me, although Granada's Alhambra was also incredible.
I moved into a new apartment (my 6th residence in 6 years), and the good news is: it doesn't smell!!! But the bad news: my neighbors are extremely loud. The 3 guys above me own Rock Band, and they are very devout in their practicing to be the next star of "America's Got Talent". On top of that, I swear they either do step aerobics or have a dance party every night. I never knew 3 people could make so much noise. My neighbors to the right of me are usually quiet so I don't have much to complain about with them. Although the night they moved in, they decided to christen the place, giving me a front row seat (on the other side of the wall) to the sounds of love-making. It really does sound like the movies.
I am going to COLLEGE STATION in 3 weekends!!! I finally am making the pilgrimage back to the Holy Land, 16 months after graduating. I get to catch the soccer game vs Portland Friday night, then the football game Saturday vs. Utah State. And Sunday will be spent in Houston with Alex (and hopefully some other friends). I don't know how I am going to fit in Layne's, Mi Cocina, Antonio's, Dixie Chicken, Freebirds, Sweet Eugene's, Rudy's, and Blue Baker into the schedule when I only get 4 meals in Aggieland, but when there is a will, there is a way. I am taking Ed with me, so he will get to experience heaven on earth for the first time. Whoop!
Now that I am a seasoned veteran of medical school, and I know what to expect, I am declaring my goals for this year. I want straight A's (you really would have thought I learned my lesson last year with my multiple B's). I want to get back into shape and wear those size 6 jeans I haven't worn in 2 years. I want to eat in (which means cook) more than I eat out. And lastly, I want to grow in my relationship with the Lord and be a strong leader in CMDA.
Following suit of every other second year medical student in the country, I am going to start diagnosing myself with random diseases anytime the smallest abnormality presents. Here is my first diagnosis: Post-Traumatic Test Disease (PTTD). This is a disorder that presents after a major examination, where one experiences depression, lack of appetite, and inability to sleep, no matter what the score achieved on the test. Typically symptoms lasts 32-48 hours post-exam experience, and results with a complete lack of productivity and happiness. PTTD is slightly contagious, and unfortunately there is no vaccine to prevent onset of disease or recurrences. The only treatments are watching movies, eating simple sugars, and working out extensively.

Thanks for reading, and see you soon. The drought is over.

Needed: Grammar Guru

2009-07-21T09:06:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, I was browsing through one of my Facebook friend's photo albums (Riley O'Neill), and stumbled upon the pictures he took at his good friend's wedding. One picture, in particular, caught my eye because the caption simply read "the groom and me", but then in the comments section, someone had corrected him, saying it should be "the groom and I". Being the closet confrontationalist that I am, I decided to enter the debate and put my two cents in, supporting Riley's original comment on the picture.

Unfortunately, I already deleted my two comments before I decided to write a blog about it, doing so in order that I would not receive any more notifications from the picture, because clearly nothing good was coming from it. I was only getting frustrated every time I was reminded of the event. But I will re-enter to the best of my ability what I commented so that you will fully understand the debate and situation.

Keegan O'Neill

groom and I

July 4 at 12:58am

Riley O'Neill

thanks mom

July 4 at 3:56am

ELISABETH JONES: No Riley, I think you're right with the "groom and me", because if you left the groom entirely out of the picture, you wouldn't write "I" in the caption. At least that's how I think the rule goes. :)

Keegan O'Neill

nope, groom and i

July 11 at 8:00pm

Riley O'Neill

i have to agree since my mom would correct me all the time on this, hence the "thanks mom" above..

July 11 at 8:31pm

ELISABETH JONES: "I" can only be used as a subject of a sentence, and "me" as an object. and in this picture, there is an implied "This is a picture of" in front of your caption, making you and the groom the direct objects. I'm not trying to be argumentative, just giving my opinion! :)

Brock Kenneth Robert Thulin

hahaha now son, it is "groom and I"

July 13 at 6:01pm

Riley O'Neill

Elisabeth for how smart i know you are you should know this one, its one of those exceptions...

July 13 at 6:11pm

Matt O'Neill

i think its Elisabeth i suppose to have a 'z' , not an 's' ... u might wanna check on that one too while you're at it ;)

5 hours ago

As you can see, the debate ended very tactfully! Personal attacks on something a person has no control over and completely irrelevant to the topic is very mature, and it only makes that person's stance on the debate that much more convincing. In response to Matt's comment: Elisabeth with an "s" is the original way of spelling the Hebrew name in the English language, and is still how the Dutch spell it. It is how the British spelled the name for centuries, which can be seen by opening up any King James Version of the Bible (click here for confirmation). Elizabeth with a "z" is the Americanized version of the name. I'm not arguing one as being better than the other, I'm just explaining my name is not misspelled! Other people who share my unique spelling: Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Elisabeth Elliot, Liz Claiborne.

But back to the point. I have asked 3 people whether "I" or "me" should be used in this situation, and all 3 have said "me". I gave my reasoning above as to why I believe it is "me", but the people arguing for "I" never backed up their claim with a stated rule or example. I searched online this morning for almost an hour trying to find the proper way to use "I" in a picture caption, but could not find a credible source (yahoo answers has no validity in my book). If anyone out there knows the answer, or would like the healthily debate this all-important linguistic enigma, please do so. I really want to know the correct way to caption my Facebook pictures!

But until proven otherwise, I'm sticking with "me".

Me? Uncultured?

2009-07-14T16:07:00.003-04:00

Yesterday my beau hunk got off of work early at Ft. Knox so he decided to drive up to Lexington to spend a few hours with me before driving back that night. What a doll. We decided to have a quiet night in at his place, so we headed to Yu Yu Asian Market to buy some goods, in hopes of concocting the ultimate Asian meal. After selecting the perfect tofu, spices, and dumplings, we went to the check out lane. Not surprisingly, I got distracted by the assortments of Asian candies nearby. My eye was drawn to a small 6 oz bottle of Korean Ginseng Drink. I don't really know what ginseng is, but it seems to be in a lot of health drinks, so I figured it couldn't hurt. Plus, it was Korean, so I figured Ed would know what it is. So I held one up and asked Ed if he wanted it. To my astonishment, he said no. Ed never turns down anything, especially gustatory items, so I asked if he was sure, and he confirmed his answer. I put it away and went on my way, but Ed had a funny look on his face. As we walked out the door, he began laughing then explained to me what had just taken place. Apparently in Asian cultures, that drink is used as an aphrodisiac! When I unabashedly asked him in front of everyone if he wanted the drink, the guy at the checking out started chuckling under his breath. You live, you learn. Apparently you don't have to go to another country to make a cultural mistake! I should have known better, I lived in Taiwan for 2 years (although I was much too young to know the secrets of aphrodisiacs).

At least I made some mean Mapo Tofu last night. :)

Finding the positive

2009-07-09T21:20:00.003-04:00

I learned an incredible amount of information this past year, more than I thought humanly possible. I must also admit that most of it has left my long term memory bank, but I am sure it will come back quickly when I start studying for boards next summer (this is my new optimistic side). One of the greatest things I learned was about myself: I am most definitely not perfect. Now, now...don't freak out on me...I never thought that I was actually perfect, but I did have a pretty high self-esteem...you know, Aggie soccer babe, good grades, great friends, All-American accolades...a fairly fabulous life. Then as much of you know from my numerous self-defeating, ranting blogs over the past 11 months, I was greatly humbled this year. I had to get used to the B average, to not being the best at everything I do, to not being in shape and have a rockin' bod, and had to learn how to set lower goals and standards. While you may think that is pathetic of me, it had to be done for my sanity. I would have been miserable if I had not learned to find joy and satisfaction in a B.

But the point of this blog post is not to be self-deprecating. I want to talk about the positive aspects of being mediocre. I played soccer for the first time last night in 8 months. I stepped on the field with low expectations, and didn't even live up to those. I am in horrible shape. I have lost my quick first step. And let's not even talk about my first touch. It really was a pathetic display of athleticism (which someone pointed out by saying "I thought you were a D1 athlete?" after I whiffed the ball). Surprisingly, I walked off the field afterwards like nothing had happened. After 11 months of being brutally beaten by med school (particularly biochem), I am so used to be a loser and being mediocre that my crazy competitiveness has gone. Out the window. Vanquished. I never thought it would happen, but it has. And praise the Lord, because my competitiveness was just a wee bit over the top.

I have now reached a healthy level of aggression, and I am that much wiser because of it. And you can trust me, because I'm 1/4 of a doctor. :)

J&K+8

2009-06-23T13:32:00.003-04:00

Big whoppin surprise with the outcome of last night's show. Everyone and their mom knew they were going to get a divorce. I don't understand why everyone is so shocked by this news...it really has been coming for a while, and the show did not try to twist the facts in any way to make us think otherwise. I do understand though why people are upset by it. Here is a couple that claimed to be Christians (even had a family "mission statement" which stated their top priority as loving and honoring God and telling others about God's love). Ironically, Jon and Kate "renewed" their vows to one another a mere 9 months ago in Hawaii, with the title of that episode being "For Better or Worse." HA! Kate stated on that episode that renewing their vows in front of the kids was really important because while "not all mommies and daddies stay together, and even though we've told them a million times, we wanted to show that we will always be together". How quickly things change.

I am mad about this divorce for multiple reasons:

1) It most definitely is NOT what is best for the kids, like Jon and Kate were both claiming in last night's episode. What would be best would be for them to stay together. Duh.

2) The hypocrisy of the J&K just eats me away. No one is perfect, and I am sure marriage is hard (obviously I have no experience here), but it seems like they didn't even try to make things better. Ever heard of marriage counseling?

3) The TV show needs to end (and I say this reluctantly because I am a big fan of those little kids, especially Alexis and Aaden), but it is ruining their family. I completely blame the downfall of their marriage on the money. It truly is the root of all evil. I believe if Jon was still working and was the bread winner for the family, no matter how meager that income was, then Jon and Kate would still be together. Jon lost his identity when he became the stay at home dad. And at that same time, Kate started writing her books and traveling the country doing all her media gigs, leaving him in the dust. God didn't create men to play second fiddle like that. Men are supposed to the leader of the household, and not the punching bag that Kate made him out to be. She was as rude and demeaning as any wife could be to her husband. With that being said, I am not completely blaming Kate. Jon shouldn't have gone out clubbing with those girls back in February, even if he wasn't cheating on Kate sexually (which I don't think he did), he was emotionally.

4) These poor kids are going to have to deal with this traumatic experience for the rest of their lives, not only because divorce scars them emotionally, but because it's on tape. Every little second of it. Oh, and don't forget about all the millions of newspapers, magazines, and blogs that have written about it too.

Enough ranting for one day. Signing out.

Confession

2009-06-21T23:31:00.003-04:00

"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It has been 24 years since my last confession."

I lied to a homeless man this past weekend, at a Christian Medical and Dental Association function of all places. We were having a BBQ at a local park and the man came up asking for some water. We willingly obliged and then offered him food since we had more than enough. He took that as an invitation to sit at our picnic tables for the next 2 hours and eat to his heart's content (which we were perfectly fine with). But near the end when we started to clean up, he started sweet talking some of the girls. As I handed a full plate of food to him, he asked me if I was married. Innocent enough question, I suppose. But I immediately went into panic mode and responded, "Yeah, I belong that that kid over there" and pointed to Ed. At first I thought it was no big deal, answering that way for my own protection. But then the guilt started setting in, and my conscience attacked me. A lie is a lie, no matter what the situation. I was trying to validate my sin by claiming my safety was compromised, but in reality, me answering, "no not yet, but I am lucky enough to be dating that handsome guy over there" would have done the same trick, and I would be guilt-free right now.

"So Father, how many Hail Mary's do I owe you?"

Out of the Loop

2009-06-15T13:00:00.002-04:00

I have now been back in Kentucky for over a year now. At times my heart longs for A&M. Well, most of the time actually. And while I know I'll always be an Aggie, it's harder feeling part of the family when you are 1000 miles away. With the physical distance from Aggieland and the time consumption by medical school, keeping up with the ins and outs of what is going on at my beloved university proves to be a challenge. So I am calling on my fellow Aggie readers to help keep me in the loop here. What is going on with Dr. Murano stepping down as president? All I know is that she retired suddenly for "the good of the university" and that everyone is saying that Gov. Rick Perry controls Texas A&M.

Explanation please.

Also, if there is anything else going on down there that I need to know about, please inform me. I was hoping to work A&M soccer camps this summer, but it looks like the numbers are down due to the economy, so they won't need me. Who knows how long it will be until I make it back down there. :(

I would like to take some time to congratulate A&M's golf and women's and men's track teams for their 3 National Championships earned in the last 2 weeks. WHOOP! I also want to give former Aggie pitcher Kirkland Rivers a shout out. He got moved up to the Astros Single A team, the Lexington Legends, a few weeks ago and I got to go see him pitch the other day. Always fun to see Ags in the pros! And hopefully this means his girl, Amber Gnatzig, will be up to visit him (and me) shortly!

Luck?

2009-05-08T17:07:00.004-04:00

I got a call this afternoon that my brother, Andrew, had been in a bad accident on I-65, on his way home from college. My mom quickly told me that he was fine, but for that split second before I heard the good news, I panicked. It's amazing what your mind can come up with in such a short time period. I immediately imagined my brother laying in an Emergency Room bed, hooked up to a ventilator, grasping onto life with everything that he could, and completely alone, no one next to him to love on him. Fortunately, this was not the case. He was not injured, and no one else was either. The police were called and everything went as smoothly as possible. His accident occurred about an hour north of where Matthew & Elizabeth live in Indiana, so Matthew drove up to get him and is bringing him down to Lexington tonight, which was their plan anyway since the family is celebrating Mother's Day tomorrow.

I talked to Andrew briefly on the phone and he sounds fine...much better than I would be if I was in his shoes. He said he was "lucky" for surviving the accident, seeing as he was on an overpass and was minding his own business before someone pulled right in front of him and he swerved to try to miss them, and instead hit the median on the bridge, bounced off of that one and went across the two lanes to hit the other guard rail. The car was totaled, and we probably won't get any money from the insurance company for it since it was an old car with a ton of miles on it, but it's hard to focus on something like that when you consider what else could have happened.

That being said, I don't think Andrew was "lucky".

Demigod

2009-05-06T14:25:00.004-04:00

Either this is the second coming or he is the Anti-Christ. It's as if he can do no wrong - everything he touches turns to gold; honored and respected, yet feared; loved by the media; completely adored and worshiped by his followers, and irrationally despised by his enemies. He seems to be perfect.

Who is this I talk about? (Please don't tell me Obama came to mind). It's none other than Coach Calipari. How can a single man come in and completely change the direction of a basketball team 180 degrees around? How can one man single handedly lift an entire state's mood? How can he recruit the nation's best to come play at a school that didn't make the NCAA's last year? How can he, in one month's time, get the #1 recruiting class in the nation? How can he gain almost 20,000 followers on twitter in one week? How can he convince a 5 star PG recruit (Bledsoe) to come be second fiddle to another 5 star PG and even higher ranked potential teammate (Wall)? HOW?

It just flat out doesn't make sense! It seems impossible. But I guess with Coach Cal, impossible is nothing.

Welcome to UK, Eric Bledsoe. Glad you joined the Cats. It's time to get "sh!t right" in Lexington. Now let's get you in some speech classes.

Spontaneous Road Trip

2009-05-04T15:37:00.016-04:00

This past week was Spring Break #2 for me and my fellow M1 classmates. We had endured the hardships of Neuro and were rewarded Wednesday - Friday off before tackling the beginning of the end of our first year medical school adventures: the Physiology block. For the previous two months, I had planned on going to Chicago to visit my brother Andrew (aka mandyroo) who goes to school at Wheaton, and then go downtown to soak in the big city life. My dreams came to a screeching halt about two weeks ago when I received the following message from my brother, and I quote:

"Life is full of regret, and today, I must regret to inform you that I simply don't think you visiting me is going to work. I am simply overrun with work and haven't the time. Sorry."

My first thought was shock, because what kind of 21 year old male talks like that, but then I realized the gravity of what just occurred. I no longer had anything exciting to do for my mini-break! I figured I shouldn't complain about this, seeing as I did get the Spring Break #1 of a lifetime at Disney World. Also, weighing in the fact that I needed to do a lot of busy work for my PCM class, maybe it wasn't the end of the world that I'd be "stuck" at home for a few days.

Fast forward two weeks. I had my finals last Monday and Tuesday. I spent the next two days lounging around town, watching movies, eating, sleeping, hitting up Sam's Club, and hanging with the boy and fam (note: NOT doing PCM assignments). I was having a decent enough time, then all of a sudden on Thursday evening I got the itch to travel, and no matter where I scratched, it wouldn't go away. I convinced Ed (didn't take much) to start looking for cheap flights online. We spent about an hour trying to find deals, and unfortunately the only thing we could find that was decently priced was to Orlando, but we had been there, done that 2 months prior. So we axed the flight idea. I started to sulk, but then Ed proposed just driving up to Chicago and doing our own thing, not even seeing Andrew, since it was obvious he was too busy. I thought that sounded ludicrous, to go all that way and not see my brother, so I called Andrew up and asked if he would want to meet up with us, if only for a meal, if we decided to go. He sounded very frustrated, but agreed to go to dinner with us, "but only for an hour". I found out post-trip that he had actually called my mom and told her how mad he was that we were coming up. He was incredibly too busy and stressed to entertain us on one of our whimsical adventures. We Joneses never lack passion. (I would feel bad about bothering him, but you'll see why I'm not later on in the post.)

Ed and I quickly packed our bags and got on the road that night. We stayed with my other brother, Matthew, in Indy that evening, then got up and drove the rest of the way on Friday morning. It was raining and kinda chilly afternoon, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because not too many people were downtown that day. We went shopping (spent too much money), found the bean (or whatever that sculpture thing is in the middle of downtown), took tons of pictures, and went to the art museum. That night we ate dinner at Berghoff's - a German pub and supposedly the oldest restaurant in Chicago. Then we went to our hotel and I passed out around 9:30 pm. (Don't worry, Ed and I got separate rooms.)

Saturday's highlights were going to the Cub's game, sitting in traffic, listening to the Derby on the radio, eating some deep dish pizza, and seeing Wolverine. We ended up spending about 4 hours with Andrew (which I would like to think was on his own accord), so I guess he wasn't as busy as he had thought. Hmmmm, sounds like he gets way more stressed out about things than he should, just like his sister. :)

We drove back to Lexington on Sunday, but Ed dropped me off in Indy to meet up with my mom so we could babysit Mary Beth (who by the way turned 1 last week!). We hung out with the little pumpkin for about 6 hours while Matthew and Elizabeth studied for their finals, then mama and I came on home.

A few things I took from the experience:

-Being spontaneous is fun, especially when you have a boyfriend who spoils you like crazy!

-Music is good for the soul, especially "The Rose" by Bette Midler. It should be sung passionately and often.

-Watching a 1 year old sing "Happy, Happy" as she dances is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Makes me want to drop out of school and start procreating.

-I despise toll roads.

-I've developed a temper in the last year. Don't know if it was instigated by the stresses of medical school, or if my eyes were just recently opened to the fact that I have always been like that. Either way, I'm working on it.

-Indiana is boring. They need some mountains. Or horse farms.

-Cubs fans are insane.

-People spend heinous amounts of money on food at sporting events - hog dog ($4.25), medium coke ($4.50), beer ($6.25), bag of peanuts ($4), nachos ($5). Also, giving a 9 month old a hot dog is not a good idea. They WILL choke on it.

-iPhones take great pictures.

-I only like to see the famous paintings at art museums. If it's not by Monet, Manet, Renoir, Picasso, or Van Gogh, then put it in a back corner. Thanks.

-Parking for 7 hours downtown costs $35. Really?

-Twittering Coach Calipari provides me way too much joy.

-I definitely ain't no city girl.

-Men can multitask, however much they like to claim otherwise. Case and point: Ed watches movies on his portable DVD player....while he's driving.

Just another day in medical school

2009-04-16T17:15:00.010-04:00

I cried for an hour straight today, going through multiple tissues, soaking them completely with tears and the snot that always accompanies a good cry. Why you ask? Today's topic in class was dying, grief, and loss. I even knew it was coming. We had to read a big journal article on grief and watch a movie (203 Days) before coming to class to be prepared for the discussion. But I was not expecting the emotions that ensued.

Every Thursday afternoon I have a 2 hour class that is called PCM (Patient Centered Medicine). It's basically a course where we learn how to be a doctor, without all the science stuff getting in the way. They teach us how to interview, take a history, and build that trusting relationship with your patients. We play pretend doctor, interviewing standardized patients in front of the other 7 members of our group. Then when it's done, we get critiqued by our teacher and classmates, usually on how we could have been more sympathetic. "You could have leaned in more towards the patient. She was obviously in distress and needed to see you actually cared," one classmate says. "You should have explored her feelings about her dog's death more. Maybe that was why she was turning to alcohol", another chimes in.

Inside I'm screaming, "NO, this "patient" is not in distress! It's not a real patient!" Instead, I just nod in acquiescence. "You're right. I was so worried about getting through the Review of Systems and Chief Complaint that I didn't give her time to truly express herself. Completely my fault. I'll try to ask more open-ended questions next time." Not really, it had already been 25 minutes since I'd started the interview. I'd heard everything from her kids' nicks and bruises to her mother's travels through Europe, all of which having nothing to do with her back pain. It was time to wrap things up. In a perfect world, a physician could spend 30-45 minutes on each patient, diving into the intricate details of their lives. But that's not reality. Hospitals can't afford that. Physicians typically only get 15 minutes for each patient, usually only having time to hear the Chief Complaint, do a brief physical, then make the diagnosis and discuss treatment plans. If the doc took the hour long appointments that our PCM class is essentially teaching us to do, then either the patients have to be charged an arm and a leg (the equivalent of 4 appointments) or hospitals would go out of business before you could say dentatorubrothalamic.

Anyway, today's particular PCM class was not spent interviewing patients. Instead we were being taught the stages of grief and how to cope with the death of a loved one. Obviously death is a natural and inevitable stage of life, but it's one that most physicians have to deal with more frequently than the lay man. Before class, I assumed the purpose of the lesson was to teach us how to help our future patients as they are dying and how to comfort the family during that difficult time, which is very useful for us to learn. But it turned more into a sob fest where we just heard story after story of heartbreaking deaths. First we had to go around the circle and tell a personal story of a time we were confronted with death, and how we handled it. The girl sitting next me, and one of my better friends I've made here at UK, was forced into a situation that she was obviously not comfortable in. Her brother died when she was 14 in a fatal car accident. He was 20 years old. It's not something she ever talks about, so she just briefly mentioned it and then put her head down in silence. Another person talked about the last moments spent at his father's death bed, and how he had to choose whether or not to put him on oxygen or let him go. He chose the latter. It was painful to say the least. At this moment I was starting to feel my heart race and my body was overcome with chills. I could tell I was not emotionally stable and tears were going to start flowing if anything else remotely sad was said.

Well it wasn't over. We spent the next hour watching various documentaries on death and grief. One was about a woman in her early 60's dying of ovarian cancer. They videotaped her last Mother's Day at home with the whole family, her last appointment at the hospital where the doctor told her it was probably the last time she'd be there before her death, and her husband choking up as he tried to talk about what life will be like when she's gone. We saw the tears stream down her face as she talked about her fears of dying in pain. Another story was about a child with CF who was about to die at the tender age of 14. She was drawing a picture of rainbows and angels and then laboriously whispered about how she knows she has a guardian angel with her, ready to fly her off to heaven. She said she was not afraid of dying, just afraid of how her parents will cope with it after she's gone. Meanwhile her father talked about his regrets of how he raised her, ignoring the fact that she was dying, and not talking about the important things in life with her. And finally, we watched a mother talk about getting over the death of her 6 year old daughter - the rage she felt towards the physician who broke the news to her, the physical manifestations of her emotional distress, and the pleas to God about how unfair it was.

Needless to say, I bawled. I couldn't even hide it. I kept trying to distract myself by getting out my iPhone and reading USA Today, or checking my email and Facebook countless times, but no matter how hard I tried to shut it out, I kept hearing the stories and sobs in the background. I attempted to hold it together and not let anyone see the tears forming in my eyes, but once I reached into my purse for the first kleenex, the class knew, and oddly I was ok with that. Anyone who was still questioning whether or not I was blowing my nose because of a cold or because I was crying had their question answered when the lights were turned on. I can't even pretend to hide it - my face screams that I've been crying with its puffy, red eyes (which stay like that for hours).

I left class today mystified. Why had I been so affected by those movies? Most of the other people in the class didn't react the way I did. The only other person that cried was my friend who had lost her brother 8 years prior, and obviously her tears were merited. My immediate thoughts were that I am weak and hypersensitive. I then spent about 17 seconds questioning whether or not medicine was the right occupation for me to be entering if I can't handle death. Finally I snapped back to reality and decided that I should probably just avoid going into oncology, geriatrics, or palliative medicine. I'd be a complete wreck every day. Life is precious. I can't even fathom having to tell a patient that they only have a few more days left, or going into the waiting room to tell the family that they need to say their final goodbyes. It takes a strong person to do that type of work, and that is most definitely not me.

I can't decide if it is a good thing or bad thing that I am such a cry baby. The right side of my brain wants to hold onto that impressionability, since so much of medicine is not just treating a disease, but a patient's emotions and total well-being. Plus, most of the public's dismay with the health care system is its lack of sensitivity. They think physicians are just robots who don't care about the person they are treating. But the left hemisphere then tells me that I need to toughen up and learn to deal with it better so that I will be able to give the best possible medical care, not clouded by my own emotional weakness. As you've seen on Grey's Anatomy, it's not good to get emotionally involved with a patient...you may end up cutting an LVAD wire in attempts to perversely "help" the patient. Dramatic example, but you get the point.

It's a fine line for physicians to walk: finding a way to sincerely care for the patient and gain their trust, but not get too involved. I have yet to figure this one out. I suppose I have plenty of time to learn.

Do You Know Him?

2009-04-12T19:39:00.001-04:00

I've seen this a few times now, but I get chills every time. So simple, yet so true.

I hope everyone had a good Easter! He is Risen!

Another one bites the dust

2009-04-08T16:12:00.009-04:00

Well, she did it folks. Sarah Foster tied the knot this past weekend. Another one of the good ones was snagged up and is no longer on the market. I'm sure men all across the world are mourning the loss of this one. I know my brother is. Andrew, you blew it when you had the chance. She even asked to be your prom date.

Slowly, one by one, all of my friends are marrying off, growing up, and becoming responsible adults. And I'm left here, as a perpetual student, stuck in never-never land. I sometimes feel like I'm never going to mature and never going to have a real job (well at least not for 8 years). Luckily, I'm ok with that. Good thing! That'd be awkward. Although I should note that I have caught the bouquet at the last two weddings I've attended. Some probably think it's because I'm dying to get married. They obviously don't know me well, or else they'd understand that it's just my competitive nature. If there's a contest, I'm all in. :)

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Gray! Love y'all!

Caliparty?

2009-03-30T20:00:00.005-04:00

Ever since Gillispie's removal as UK's head coach 3 days ago, rumors have been rampant about who our next coach would be. Many speculated Travis Ford, since AD Mitch Barnhart was stressing the importance of having someone who truly understood and appreciated what UK basketball is all about. Ford played point guard for the Wildcats during the early 90's under Pitino and was one of the key figures in building the program to what it became in the late 90's (2 National Championships and a Runner-up in 3 years). Others were screaming for Donovan because he too would be returning to somewhere he knew and respected as having been a former assistant coach here in Lexington. Both of those seemed poor choices to me. Ford is too young and inexperienced. Maybe another decade from now I will consider him a forerunner for this position, but he needs to get some more games under his belt. I also heard he has some off-court issues that sound a lot like BCG. Not good. Donovan has the celebrity factor. He's a big name, having won 2 recent National Championships at UF, and he has the "it" factor - clean cut, handsome, and witty. And we've all seen how good of a recruiter he is. But I still didn't want him. His stock has significantly declined in the last two years, having only made the NIT. Why bring in someone who isn't even getting their team to the Big Dance? Still others were throwing around the names of Jay Wright, Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino (gasp!), or Thad Matta. My responses to those (in order): nope, no more up-and-comings; boring basketball; yeah right/sick; not proven enough.

John Calipari's name was also in the mix, but people kept insisting that he has it perfect at UM. Winning season after winning season. The gem of Memphis sports - not competing with football. He's the "King of Memphis" - the most popular guy in town. Recently signed a contract making him one of the highest paid coaches of all time. It just didn't make sense for him to go. Well that was the media talking.

We Kentuckians see the big picture. We know that UK is the winningest program of all time. That we have 7 National Championships, 43 SEC championships, the greatest fan base out there, and an unbelievably storied tradition (The Fabulous Five, Rupp's Runts, the Miracle in Mardi Gras, The Untouchables, the Comeback Cats). We all know and appreciate this. We've produced the likes of Pat Riley, Kyle Macy, John Pelphrey, Richie Farmer, Jamal Mashburn, Antoine Walker, Tayshaun Prince, and Rajon Rondo). The rest of the country apparently sees us as "has-beens". Let me tell you, we are still there, we have just had some bad luck recently.

Today news came out that Coach Cal also sees UK like the Big Blue Nation does, which is a breath of fresh air since Billy Clyde seemed to never grasp the grandiose "culture" of Kentucky Basketball. Calipari was quoted as telling his UM players that "Kentucky is the Notre Dame of college basketball" and that he couldn't let this offer from Lexington go without giving it some serious thought. Some reports said that players left the meeting this morning convinced that he was leaving them, while others said that they were confident he'd return. All day today people were celebrating that we had landed Calipari. While it seems likely that he will be coming, with both parties confirming that they have expressed a mutual interest and are talking numbers for the contract, nothing is set in stone yet. Rumors are that Calipari could be getting upwards of $6 million per year. (Economic recession my butt.)

Apparently Memphis boosters are proposing counter offer after counter offer to Calipari, trying to entice him to stay. But I've seen reports that he has turned those down, saying it's not about the money. People are freaking out here in Lexington that he was meeting with the UM administration this afternoon, worried that he may change his mind. But apparently he was only sitting down with them to give suggestions as to who they should hire to replace him. Who knows if that's true, but if it is, that's awfully nice of him! :)

I'm not ready to throw all my eggs in one basket and celebrate. I think it's pre-mature. And after having been burned a few years back during the UK/LSU football game, I'm not gonna fall for it again. Cats, it ain't over til the fat lady sings. Not until I see Calipari in a UK tie shaking the hand of Mitch Barnhart in front of thousands of crazy fans here in Lexington will I finally celebrate. And the possibility that he may bring his top recruits (Henry who has a clause to get out of his LOI, Cousins who hasn't signed yet, and Wall who is still undecided) with him makes it even more exciting. If that were the case, I truly believe UK would be in contention for a National Championship next year. Look at this possible line-up (very unlikely to happen, but I can dream):

Starting 5:

John Wall

Xavier Henry

Jodie Meeks

DeMarcus Cousins

Patrick Patterson

Bench:

(players that would probably start anywhere else in the country):

Daniel Orton

Darius Miller

Jon Hood

(players that started or played significant time this year):

Perry Stevenson

Michael Porter

Kevin Galloway

Ramon Harris

DeAndre Liggins

Hello Kentucky, there's a team. If this happens (or anything close to it), the Commonwealth of Kentucky will definitely be throwing a CALIPARTY until the season starts! And I think it's merited.

Now we just have to make it official. Please Barnhart, rope him in!

Movie Reviews of 2009 (so far)

2009-03-23T12:16:00.014-04:00

Here's a listing of the movies I've seen this year, from worst to best. Consider this a favor, so that you know which movies to spend your time and money on. Warning: I may be biased considering any chance I get to see a movie, I am generally in a fantastic mood because it means I'm not studying, so I may be nicer in these reviews than others are. I will do my best to put my circumstantial slant to the side and give honest and fair assessments. Drum roll please......

7. Bride Wars - Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway join up together in this chick flick that leaves a little to be desired. Despite a few funny scenes speckled throughout the film, especially when both brides are trying to sabotage each other's weddings, the chemistry between the two ladies was lacking and the ending was a wee bit predictable. I was too bothered by Hudson's haircut to pay any attention to her lines, and I still can't take Hathaway seriously as an actress (she will forever be the unfortunate high school girl in The Princess Diaries to me). Would I want to see the movie again? No. But I didn't leave frustrated for spending my time or money, so it couldn't have been that bad. Rating: C

6. Confessions of Shopaholic - Isla Fisher, most known for her role in Wedding Crashers, gets the nod for the lead character in this film that would leave most men contemplating suicide, but most women with a smile. I guess that's why they call it a chick flick. Having never read the book I can't compare it to that, but the movie provided for 2 or 3 quality laughs and multiple snickers. The camera loves Fisher and she does as good as any actress could do in this disenchanting role of Rebecca Bloomwood- a young journalist who just can't stop spending money she doesn't have on the latest fashions. What makes this movie from being a complete bust is Rebecca's boss and love interest: Hugh Dancy. He's scrumptious. Rating: C+

5. Mall Cop - Paul Blart (played by Kevin James from The King of Queens) is your stereotypical security officer who takes his job very seriously, but you wouldn't want it any other way in this light-hearted comedy. Mostly slap-stick humor, this good-hearted guy ends up saving the day with the help of a lot of luck. The romance side of this movie is not tantalizing enough to draw you in, but the ease of laughter throughout is enough to satisfy. And you have to appreciate the clean-cut jokes and vocabulary that don't leave you feeling guilty for enjoying the movie. Rating: B-

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Easily Brad Pitt's best performance of his career thus far. He plays the role of a peculiar man who is born with a rare disease that makes him get younger as he ages. This is a film that makes you contemplate life and death, love and heartbreak, and the joys and hardships of life. My only beef with this film was the length: 2 hours and 45 minutes, making it very slow at points, but it also enabled the viewers to really get to know the heart and soul of Benjamin Button. At the end, I found tears streaming down my cheeks. A great movie to rent and watch on a quiet evening in with a quality glass of wine. Rating: B+

3. I Love You, Man - Looking for a good laugh? It's easily found here. If you are able to put the crude language behind you (excessive use of the F word), you will be laughing uncontrollably from start to finish. I was unable to say what my favorite part of the movie was afterwards, since it's not really the story line that is great (a newly engaged man trying to find a best man for his wedding), but the actors' reactions during awkward scenarios that makes this movie worth seeing. The directors could not have picked a better man than Paul Rudd to play the lead. I imagine that a lot of it was ad-libbed because it was just too natural at points to come from simply memorizing a script. Predictable ending, but hilarious (I was convulsively laughing at points, hitting poor Ed because I couldn't find another manner to get my emotions out). Rating: B+

2. Duplicity - A spy movie that isn't loaded with crazy gadgets or unfathomable stunts - read: it's actually plausible, which makes it that much more appealing. Julia Robers' and Clive Owen's chemistry is convincing enough to keep the females interested, and the cunning script is more than enough to keep the males hooked. The many twists throughout the story may seem confusing at first, but all come to fruition beautifully at the end. There are no holes in the story line, which is a feat because of its complexity. No one is left saying, "but what about this part?". Very enjoyable movie going experience. Dramatic and witty. Rating: A

1. Slumdog Millionaire - I saw it in an old, classic theater that shows the more independent type movies or foreign films before they make it "big" or just die before hitting mainstream theaters. I proudly claim that I saw this movie before anyone had even heard of it. It's unique storyline approach, uplifting message, and surprisingly great acting (no big names) left me on the edge of my seat during its entirety, waiting for the next clue into how this story unfolds. It's not just your regular movie with the good guy winning. Beautifully written and directed. And you have to love the dancing at the end! A must see. Rating: A+

The most wonderful time of the year?

2009-03-19T11:08:00.003-04:00

March is typically the pinnacle of fun for me throughout my year. The culmination of spring break, warm weather lurking around the corner, daffodils blooming, birds chirping, and most of all, March Madness brings joy to my soul. But this year it's just different. Spring break was in February. The warm weather actually puts a damper on my day because on days like yesterday, where it was 68 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, I was inside the library studying instead of playing tennis or disc golf. And March Madness just isn't very exciting when your team didn't even make the cut. (It's harder to get amped for the NIT than the NCAA's).

In fact, I have a confession. I didn't even look at a bracket this year. I have filled out a bracket every year since I was 10. I've never entered it into a pool, but I've done it for my own pleasure and satisfaction. And I was actually very realistic in my picks. I never chose UK to go farther than I thought they deserved. (I want to make note though that up until the last few years, that still meant they were going to at least the Elite 8...oh how times have changed.) But this year, I have absolutely no idea who made the tournament and who is playing who except for what I read in Facebook statuses. I now know A&M is playing BYU (and apparently B.O. chose the mormons over the Ags...typical). And I know that UofL got the overall #1 seed, which pains my soul in itself, but what's even worse is seeing all these Cats fans switching to their side now.

But you know what, I'm (wo)man enough to let go of my personal disgust with UK's disappointing season and still enjoy this tournament. It really is a magical time of year - all the upsets, the cinderella teams, the school spirit, the birthing of heroes. I love it. It's a beautiful thing in the sports world. Yet, this year, I will be unable to enjoy it. I am knee deep in a tough Neuroscience block, and I can't even take an hour out of my day to eat, much less watch basketball from noon - midnight every day this weekend and next.

For those of you who get to watch it, soak it in extra for me! I am there next to you in spirit, cheering for the underdog.

Gig 'em Ags. BTHO byu!

Finals Week

2009-02-27T07:07:00.004-05:00

You know that phenomenon, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?" Well I am here to add a new question to the list of mysteries that can never really be answered: "How many hours can you spend at a library without going bonkers?"

In the past week I have spent a better part of each day studying at W.T. Young Library. I had my Genetics final on Monday and my Biochem final is in, well, 34 minutes. I have come to know the security guards, the clean up crew, and the "regulars" at the library. I have seen people do things at the library that they would never do anywhere else. Stress induced, I'm sure. See images below.

Yes, do not let your eyes deceive you, that is a clown at the library.

I have had many good laughs over the last week. WTY has become my new home. My best friend. Something I can always count on to be screaming my name in earnest love. It's like my blanky, that is, until you have been there 10+ hours, without leaving once even to eat. Kind of like the sleep hangover you get when you've been in bed for too long. The bed, and the library, are only meant to be used so much. The last 3 days have been overkill: 10 hours Tuesday, 11 hours Wednesday, and 12 hours yesterday. I believe the photo below was taken ~9 hours in on Wednesday. You can only take so much of a "good" thing.

Well I'm off to take the final. Wish me luck. Hopefully my brain isn't dead from my adventures at the library!

You learn something new every day!

2009-02-23T17:50:00.003-05:00

What would you call what is up with this guy's hair (besides awesome)? Not the mullet, but the hair at forehead line?

Well apparently it's a "cowlick". I don't know how this got past me for 24 years, but I've been calling them "calics" all this time. Glad I got that straightened out today so that I wouldn't look ignorant any longer!

God bless cowlicks! Especially this stud muffin's!

Dating 101: How to Woo

2009-02-15T23:07:00.005-05:00

During the last 3 months, I have been the recipient of a young gentleman's full attention. Although I tried to break it off many a time, he respectfully ignored my requests and kept pursuing. I have slowly started to give into his consistent efforts, much to his delight. I believe it would be impossible for any girl to turn him down after everything he did for me this Valentine's weekend.

The Valentine's Day journey began last weekend when he brought me a dozen roses, a teddy bear, and a card which asked me to be his date to Caduceus, the medical school prom, on Friday night, and then another card which asked me to be his date on Valentine's Day on Saturday night. I checked "yes" on both cards and laughed at him because of course I would go with him to these things, I am his girlfriend. But he was quick to correct me and say that it was only proper to formally ask a lady for an evening out on the town, no matter how serious the relationship was. What a gentleman!

This past Thursday evening he dropped me off at my apartment after a long day of studying. As I was getting ready for bed, I remembered that I needed to set the alarm on my phone. I reached into my purse to get it and found an iPhone instead. Confused, I picked it up and Ed smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day babe, here's your first gift." Once I got over the shock, I started jumping up and down on the couch. Now I have two phones with two different numbers. I am still on my parent's family plan and now have joined Ed's. Slightly unnecessary to have two phones, but what am I supposed to do? :)

The next night was Caduceus. He had told me that I needed to pack an overnight bag because he was taking me somewhere after the dance. He picked me up at my apartment with a dozen red roses in hand. We took some pictures then he whisked me off to Portofino's, one of the nicest restaurants in downtown Lexington, in his freshly cleaned car. After a wonderful meal, we went on to the dance, where we spent the next couple of hours dancing and hanging out with all of our slightly inebriated classmates. We left the dance earlier than most because Ed told me he needed to take me the secret place and get me to bed because tomorrow was a big day.

After only a short drive, we pulled into the Griffin Gate Marriott (one of the nicest hotels in town). He had gotten me my very own room for the evening. He had even decorated it with balloons and rose petals. And I can't forget the box of Godiva chocolate covered strawberries and raspberries! He tucked me in to bed, set my alarm, then left to go back to his house. I woke up to breakfast in bed and a "morning of relaxation" planned at the spa! He had gotten me a manicure, pedicure, fully body massage, and a facial!

The spa experience was unbelievable! The facial surprised me the most. I loved it! But every second of that morning was fantastic. I finished around 12:15 and Ed was sitting in the lounge waiting for me. We then went to get lunch and saw a movie (Confessions of a Shopaholic). After all of that I was exhausted so he dropped me off at my apartment and let me catch a quick nap before bringing me more flowers (tulips this time!) and taking me out for another evening of surprise activities. He took me to downtown Midway to a quaint little restaurant called Bistro La Belle. We enjoyed a wonderful 4 course meal before going to Versailles to see the play, "The Curious Savage", at the local theater.

That, my friends, is how to woo a woman. I definitely got myself a good Valentine. I fear that he may be spoiling me though! The Lord knows I definitely don't deserve it!

PS - You are probably wondering what I got him since he went to such great lengths for me? Well....ummm....nothing like that. I painted him something to hang on his wall. After all he did though, I will have to cook him dinner for a year to break even!

ouch

2009-02-06T18:06:00.003-05:00

A few things I don't know or didn't know until the present moment:

1) In med school, some professors like to give the same test twice. You're probably thinking, oh that's nice, that gives you a chance to redeem yourself. But here's the deal: they don't tell you this key fact in advance, so you prepare for the new material thinking the stuff on the previous test that you failed won't be on this test, but then SURPRISE, half the questions on the test have nothing to do with the new material. After the test was over, one classmate put it perfectly, "I didn't know I'd have to fail the same test twice."

2) How one man (Dr. Turco) could be so completely obsessed with diabetes and insulin. I swear a third of the cases presented on the exam had patients suffering from diabetes. We get it. Move on. Let them have PKU, hyperlipidemia, Ornithine Transcarbamoylase Deficiency, hemochromatosis, or gout. For the love of Pete.

3) How many more blows to the ego I can take. It's seriously starting to hurt.

Rough week.

And yes, I still believe I will be a good doctor, even if I'm not good at biochemistry.

I want to do this

2009-01-30T15:32:00.002-05:00

This is INSANE! I didn't even know this existed....

Check it out!

Perspective

2009-01-27T16:22:00.005-05:00

You know that headache you get after a good, long cry? That's what I have right now as I sit here in front of my computer screen, trying to forget all the hustle and bustle of a snow day or of the looming biochemistry test, and attempt to put into words what it was like to attend Coach Sallee's funeral this afternoon. And I know whatever I say, it won't do him justice. Coach truly was the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus here on earth. He lived to serve others, and he did that so beautifully. Constantly giving his love and support to everyone who was fortunate to cross paths with him. And while my biggest regret is that I didn't reach out my hand to him during these last 10 months as he battled cancer, I left the funeral today seeing such an outpouring of love from the LCA, East Jessamine, and church communities. Coach did not die a lonely man, that is for sure. He died a man who finally got to be on the receiving end of all the love he had so graciously given out during the last 25 years of ministry, teaching, and coaching.

Funerals always put life in perspective. That is going to be one day, laying in a casket in front of a congregation of loved ones. And it makes you ponder, what are they going to say about me? Did I live my life for things eternal? Did I "love God and love people", as Coach always preached every day at basketball practice? I actually take that back, Coach didn't have to preach that, because we all saw it every day with how he lived. I pray that I can some day be half the person that he was. God took a good one home. I can understand why He wanted him up there with Him!

Here is a link for a video and an article that was printed on the front page of the Lexington Herald Leader last Monday, only four days before he passed away. What an unbelievable man he was. I will definitely miss him.

Celebrating the life of Ralph Sallee, 1954-2009.

Hitler's Aggie Football Rant

2009-01-26T19:00:00.001-05:00

A friend sent this to me and I found it worthy of a good laugh. Especially at the end...just keep watching!

Hold on tight!

2009-01-20T13:14:00.003-05:00

It's going to be a crazy ride! While I wish Obama would never have been elected, I am somewhat eerily excited to see how things turn out. (Note: that does not mean I am excited to see him fail; I just want to see what he is actually able to accomplish with his big talk throughout the election.)

My predictions:

-he serves an 8 year term

-taxes go way up and the war continues, yet he somehow remains "the One" in the eyes of the democrats due to his race, youth, and "coolness" factor.

-partial birth abortion is allowed

-gay marriage is allowed

-medical school attendance drops dramatically as physician's rights and payment steadily decreases

Alas, life goes on and history is made. Good luck Mr. President.

Now, go get some much needed rest, W. You deserve it.

Two words: Jodie Meeks

2009-01-13T23:24:00.006-05:00

54 points

10 3-pointers

14-14 free throws

Most points in a game by a UK player EVER. Yeah boi!

Cats defeat Vols 90-72. That is what I'm talkin' bout. Go Cats! Go Meeks! Go BCG!

Just Say No...

2009-01-11T22:21:00.004-05:00

to drugs.

And not just street drugs, or prescription drugs. But OTC "boost your energy" drugs. I took one of those 5 Hour Energy Shots today, in hopes of getting an extra boost of energy to study the day away. I have a fairly large and important biochemistry test tomorrow morning over carbohydrates and lipids and everything in between, and I haven't been sleeping well at all lately due to that stress coupled with being sick with the common cold. So after church this morning, I figured I would just grab one of those shots and that would keep me awake and focused. Instead, it brought out all the crazy emotions I normally have, except those emotions were on steroids*. I got flushed, my heart started to race, I couldn't sit still, my muscles were twitching, I was breathing heavily. I couldn't even keep my eyes focused on anything longer than 5 seconds. Needless to say, it was not conducive to studying.

Consequently, instead of capitalizing my last day of cramming and review, I wasted it trying not to pass out. And in the act of doing so, I was annoying everyone** around me because I was irritable and moody as all get out.

So seriously kids, just say no.

*I can now tell you the structure, source, and function of steroids if you would like to know.

**Joshua Edward Chang.

Need a way to vent?

2009-01-05T00:27:00.003-05:00

Just log onto Facebook and leave a mean or sarcastic status. It's what everyone is doing these days. I fear that the shrinks will be left out in the cold soon, with everyone turning to F-book as their means of coping with stress, depression, or heart ache.

Tonight's loss to our bitter rival Louisville caused for much amusement in my daily (ok fine, hourly) Facebook status reading. I even added to the status drama myself, leaving what I thought to be a witty enough remark. It's amazing how much effort is put into a status, knowing that everyone and their mom will read it and critique it.

Here are some of the best remarks from the tragic loss:

"Sosa is garbage, he misses that shot 9 times out of 10."

"I am sick to my stomach. Louisville makes me sick."

"I should have gone to church. I think God smited UK as a result."

"I wish UK would not average 4978974829174291 turnovers a game."

"F that S. Sosa can go to H." (actual curse words were used)

"Did that really just happen?"

"Does this mean WKU is the best team in the state?"

"BCG - meet my buddy karma." - a friend from A&M

"I want to Puke." -by loyal "EJ Explains" reader Justin West

"I am going to be in a bad mood for a long time. Thanks a lot, Edgar."

My status: "Elisabeth is congratulating UofL for beating an unranked team at home by a last second shot."

So for all my non-Facebook friends (I am preaching at you Matthew, Sarah, and Kent), you can add your two cents on the game to the comments section of this here blog. Let's all throw one big pity party together. All are welcome.

On a side note, the countdown for Spring Break: Walt Disney World has officially begun. 53 days.

Snowboarding Summarization

2008-12-30T23:28:00.004-05:00

It took me 2 hours to make it down the first slope on Day 1.
On that first run, I fell over 30 times.
Around fall 20 (which was a doozy), I broke down in a serious case of tears due to frustration.
I literally bruised my bum from all the falls. Knee, wrist, and elbow bruises are expected, but the gluteus maximus bruise was a first for me. I would post pictures, but don't want to offend anyone.
One time I was on a narrow trail and I was trying to slice back to the left but something went terribly wrong and I fall completely off the slope into a mud pit. Not embarrassing.
I said my first reactionary curse word in my life after a fall on the last run of the day on Day 1. Ashamed to admit it, but it's the truth.
Don't go to bed at 8 pm, even if you are so exhausted you think you will die, because you'll wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to sleep the rest of the night. Thank goodness for Grey's Anatomy Season 1 DVDs.
I think Ed and Andrew like each other more than they like me. Who knew I'd be the third wheel?
ALWAYS wear a helmet and knee pads when you snowboard. They are a girl's best friend. Who needs diamonds anyway?
When we went to get dinner in the village on Day 1, Ed dropped Andrew and I off and then went to park. 30 minutes later he had not come back to join us, and we couldn't get a hold of him because his phone was turned off, so I started to fret. He finally shows up just and I told him I was worried he'd been attacked or something, and he literally pulled the "pssh, you should have felt sorry for the other guy if that happened" line. 100% serious. Really, Ed?
The second day of boarding is mucho better than the first. Day 1 fun index: 4/10. Day 2: 8/10.
I have a new appreciation for indigestion. It hurts.
Motion sickness only increases with age for me. Driving through those back hills of wild, wonderful West Virginia made me want to puke my brains out.
I can't sleep in the same bed as someone else. I am a high maintenance sleeper in that regard. But I can sleep on the floor or in a sleeping bag in the woods just fine. Odd.
Do I like snowboarding or skiing better? Skiing. Will I go snowboarding again? Debatable. Depends if someone else is paying for the rentals! :)

Video: Starts with me flipping up off the ground and then you see Andrew shoot across the screen as he wipes out. Just keep watching.

Why Marriage is Beautiful

2008-12-26T11:15:00.004-05:00

I've decided I'm ready to get married. All these years I've pushed it aside, thinking I was too immature and selfish to enter into such a covenant. But this Christmas I had yet another revelation that has shifted my stance on holy matrimony. While I may still be callow and egoistic, I believe I have many other traits to bring to the table.

For example, I believe I could make some great babies. Seeing how successful my brother and his wife have been, I am ready to give it a try. These little babes would be super athletic (they will be on a training regimen to be walking by 7 months), super smart (writing symphonies by age 4), and cute as a button (blond curls and blue eyes). If anything, I think there is a guy out there that would be more than welcome to put up with my personality flaws to get some good genes for his children.

But even more so than my fantastic breeding capabilities, I want to get married for another reason: the holidays. Christmas is already fun as it is, but imagine multiplying it by 3? Christmas at home with my hubby and children. Christmas at my parents house. Christmas at my husband's house. Three FULL Christmases. Seriously, could it get any better than that? I'd be set the rest of the year with all the gifts I so graciously received.

I am embarking on a new journey, one filled with anticipation and hope for one day finding true love. Because friends, marriage surely is a beautiful thing.

How to Lose Weight

2008-12-07T17:11:00.002-05:00

Over my 24 years of existence, I have never struggled with my weight or ever even needed to drop 5 pounds for an upcoming event. In fact, I was told I needed to gain weight by our team nutritionist, but I threw that garbage out the window because I already ate like a fat kid. Can't fight metabolism, baby.

While I am not saying that I am fat by any means now, I will admit that I do probably have 5 pounds to spare now in my current state. I decided to make a change in my lifestyle and I actually worked out fairly intensely 4 times this past week (following my old A&M soccer workout book that I found at home). I have started eating a bit healthier, knowing that that could only help. Well I figured that I would see immediate changes in my body composition (ie the return of my glorious tight abs and toned arms), but after a week of working out, no pounds have dropped and no fat has dissipated.

And then I remembered something. There really is only one sure fire way to lose weight quickly. And although it may come at some other expenses to your life, you need to only focus on the scale. That's all that really matters.

It's quite simple: go through a break up. Nothing makes pounds drop faster. During my times of rejection and depression that I am unfortunately all too common with, my insatiable appetite for food disappears right in front of my eyes. The thought of food makes me cringe. It couldn't be a more perfect scenario for losing weight. You won't even have the desire to eat. On top of that, nothing is a better stress reliever than working out, so you will probably start going to the gym more often after the break up than before.

So my plan before spring break is to find a guy, fall crazy infatuated with him, then find a way to make him hate me (see: How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days) so that he will break up with me. I'll eventually thank him as I am sitting in my bathing suit in Florida in March, basking in the glory of my hot bod.

Apparently...

2008-11-30T19:37:00.003-05:00

I'm high maintenance.

I truly never knew. I always thought I was as un-high maintenance as they come...I mean hello, I like wearing sweats, hate showering, and would rather go play tackle football with the boys than go shopping with the girls.

But when "high maintenance" girls came up in conversation the other day, my guy friends all informed me that I am the epitome of high maintenance.

Devastated, to say the least.

"You're the worst kind. You're high maintenance but you think you're low maintenance." ~When Harry Met Sally

"Turkey" Day? More like Sweet Potato day.

2008-11-29T21:52:00.003-05:00

If it were up to me, I would say leave the turkey out. What makes the Thanksgiving meal so great is not the meat, I say shamelessly. No, I believe it's the vegetables, casseroles, and dessert. Corn pudding, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. You can even leave out the stuffing. Yeah, that's right, I just said it. No turkey and no stuffing would actually make me a happier person because I would have more room in my belly to savor the pumpkin pie. The only reason to roast a turkey on Thanksgiving would be to save it for the leftover turkey sandwiches that you eat for the next week. mmmmm, now THOSE are high quality.

Round 2

2008-11-17T17:52:00.006-05:00

Ahhhhh....you smell that? It's the delightful aroma of a new beginning. Spring is in the air. And clearly by "spring", I mean biochemistry and genetics. I officially survived my first block of medical school, scraping by with B's in both anatomy and histology. But I'm told B = MD, so I'll take it and move on.

Today was the first day of class for biochem. (I personally like A&M's shorthand for that class (BICH), which I will be using from this point forward, which means take a mental note and store it away in that little brain of yours.) I'm excited about studying a new subject, I just wish it wasn't this one. The class is graded on a curve (not a bell curve, mind you, one where only 6 people get A's and the majority get C's - and for those who don't know, C does NOT = MD). My teacher for the first exam is an angry, angry soul. I can't imagine living with such hostility towards life. Needless to say, I miss good ol' Professor Tsai already. Dr. Spielmann won't be wearing any crazy hats, or showing youtube videos during class, or inviting me out to play soccer with him. I used to have such fond memories of BICH, but I'm afraid, my friends, that this is soon to change. Alas, I realize that this is no longer undergrad and it's time to buckle down.

Although the thoughts of studying glycolysis and protein folding does not make my spirit flutter, I must say that I am relishing this new beginning. My slate is clean. I feel as if I have been given a second chance to prove myself. And hopefully with the help of Mr. Genius himself, Eduardo, "tutoring" me every day, I can do half as good as he does.

For those of you who don't know, Ed is a member of the "family". I believe I have not blogged about family, which is quite remarkable. In fact, they would probably disown me if they knew this. Gross Anatomy Table #5 consisted of Cara, Carol, Mary, Mike, Ed, and Steve. From the beginning, they hit it off as a group and formed a tight, cohesive study group, but more importantly, became best of friends. I was fortunate enough to be one of Ed's Histology lab partners, and after him listening to me wallow in self pity about how poorly I was doing in Anatomy, his dear soul invited me to join their family in a study session the following day. Well it worked, my grades started improving, and I became a permanent groupie of table #5. I knew I had been officially adopted when I was included in their super secret list serve of emails. We recently adopted another member, Rachel, into our family, bringing the grand total to 8.

For those of you who care (which I know is all 5 of you who read this blog), here is an exaggerated, quick break down of the family (in order of the picture above):

Mike: high maintenance California boy, super sweet, "dad".

Carol: the artsy fartsy, always smiling one.

Rachel: reserved, witty, athletic.

Ed: crazy army dude, ridiculously smart, "naughty uncle".

Mary: the "tall girl", makes sure everyone is happy and well fed ("mom").

Cara: miss popular, outgoing, token liberal of the family.

Steve: outwardly a stud, inwardly a huge nerd.

In celebration of finishing the anatomy block, we packed up our cars and took a mini road trip to Mary's cabin at Lake Cumberland this past weekend. It was raining/sleeting the whole time, but that was fine by us because it made the hot tub that much more endearing, and cuddling up on the couch in front of the fire so much more enjoyable. But it is now back to reality, and although our family is no longer tied together through lab, we aim to remain one with our weekly Grey's Anatomy parties, Friday night family dinner, and study sessions throughout the week. No one can break us apart, for our family "hit the freaking jackpot".*

*actual quote by an outsider who is jealous of us.

Obligatory post-election thoughts

2008-11-05T01:20:00.004-05:00

1. It's not the end of the world. And even if it is, heaven will be a much better place than this.

2. I am grateful that I will be a student/resident for the next 8 years of my life and won't be making any substantial income. None of my wealth will be redistributed.

3. I absolutely, 100% can't stand people that made this election out to be about race. Who cares if he's "black"? He's also half "white". And he hasn't rubbed shoulders with the black people of America since...never (see Harvard, University of Chicago, Senate). Fact: every one of my black friends on facebook has the following as their status: "MY PRESIDENT IS BLACK!!!!" That is messed up. If I said something like, "at least my governor is white", I would be shot dead. Double standards. I hate 'em.

4. It saddens me to see all these people now say that they are for the first time "proud to be an American". I don't think I need to explain why this one hurts my soul.

5. Why did the Republican party choose McCain in the first place?

6. I believe there is Someone upstairs that still is in control.

Halloween ain't happy

2008-10-29T15:15:00.003-04:00

I've never understood why people get so hyped up about Halloween. As a kid I enjoyed it because I got free candy, but since I stopped trick-or-treating, I've sort of despised the holiday. Maybe I've hated it ever since my favorite pet of all time, Chadwick, got killed on Halloween by our rambunctious teenage neighbors for the simple fact that he was a black cat. Or maybe I find Halloween to be offensive because it's every girl's excuse to dress like a whore once a year, and just blow it off by saying it's a "costume".

Nonetheless, my distaste for the holiday just increased. On UK's campus today, an effigy of Barack Obama was found hanging from a tree, with a noose around the neck.

Deplorable.

What is this? 1870's Georgia? The thing that irks me is that you know there are some kids out there laughing their butts off, thinking it was hilarious. I'm just embarrassed, to be honest. Kentucky really is backwards.

Apple = Dependability?

2008-10-26T18:11:00.005-04:00

I am the proud new owner of a 15 inch MacBook Pro. After years of lusting after one, I finally took the plunge and got one. It was supposed to be my graduation present from my parents, but I took the advice of some computer guru friends that I should wait until Apple released their new product later in the summer. Well later in the summer turned into earlier in the semester, and earlier in the semester turned into October, and I was still without one. But due to my dedication to Apple, and the trust that I was putting in my gurus, I held out for it, and here it is. My brand new MacBook Pro. It's a beaute.

I must embarrassingly admit that I know very little about computers. Besides checking my email and downloading music and pictures, I am an ignorant fool. It's always awkward for me when fellow Apple owners get overly excited about me joining the family and they start talking about all the different programs and softwares, and I sit there and just nod my head like I know what they are talking about. I don't even know what software is. And how does the internet work? I just don't get it. Anyway, it's also problematic when all those Apple haters out there in the world ask me why I would change from PC to Mac, I enter pretender mode and say that it has much better media editing programs, it's "user friendly", and it is much more dependable than PC's, rarely ever crashing. Cue change of subject.

But now one of my arguments is invalid. I have owned this computer for 5 days, and it has already failed me. I was having a great afternoon, enjoying this wonderful autumn Kentucky day at home, watching the Aggie soccer babes play CU on tv, and chatting away on gmail with an old friend, when my computer started making a funny noise. I'm used to PCs making weird noises, so I didn't think twice about it, then all of a sudden, the noise stopped and the backlight on my screen went off. No matter what I did, it stayed dim. I then called Apple Care and talked to a very nice British lady for a while, trying to figure out how to get this working again. She had me take out the battery and hold down the power key for 30 seconds (again, I have no idea what that was doing) and then she told me to put the battery back in. Hmmm, well, I tried, and I tried some more. All the while I am on the phone with her, and I ask her if there is some trick to this. She tells me to put the phone down and try it then. So I do that, and as I am trying to put her on speaker phone, I hang up on her. Oh well, no big deal, I'll just call back when I get the battery back in. Well the battery doesn't go back in. I end up getting it jammed half way, so now I am stuck with a computer that barely lights up in the first place, and now has to remain plugged into the wall since the battery isn't properly installed.

I must say though that Apple's customer service is first class. They were extremely nice and stayed on the phone with me for an hour trying to get my computer working. When they realized it was a hard drive problem, they told me to ship it back in, and they will send me a completely new machine. I can't really complain about that, except that if there was a week I needed a lab top all year, it's now. With my first block coming to an end in the next two weeks, I have studying galore to do, and much of that studying is done on the computer. I guess I will have to stick to my poor ol' Dell desk top to get the job done.

So thanks, Apple, for the warm welcome to the family.

War wound

2008-10-15T17:48:00.002-04:00

Pretty, ain't it?

It's still a part of me

2008-10-10T22:36:00.014-04:00

I read a blog earlier this week of a friend who said she was just missing something in her life. She was a former college athlete like myself who was fessing up to the fact that she was not over it, not ready to put away those cleats and ball. When I read it, I understood where she was coming from, but I couldn't really identify with it. Yes, of course I miss soccer. It was a huge part of my life for 18 years. But now I've moved on to something even more challenging and demanding than college athletics was. I don't have much time to sit around and think of days of old, I'm too focused on staying afloat with medical school.

But then tonight, in an effort to procrastinate studying as much as possible, I got on to TexAgs to find the score of the Aggie soccer game tonight. Someone had posted a link to watch live video, so I quickly followed that and watched the second half of the game vs Nebraska. Almost half of the A&M team are newcomers, people I don't know personally, just names I've only read about in score columns. Yet, I sat here in my apartment, listening to the commentators talk about the game, hearing the faithful fans in the background doing yells, and seeing these girls fight their heart out on that field on Senior Night, and my world just stopped. I literally felt like time stood still for the first time in a long time. Where did the last year of my life go? It's been a year since I was there on that same field, celebrating the end of my career at A&M.

Being an Aggie soccer player was something that I never took for granted, praise the Lord. I truly believe I soaked up every second I had that maroon and white uniform on, completely living in the moment. I had experienced the other side of college athletics - two losing seasons, an outsider on my team, a verbally abusive coach, and zero self confidence. A&M turned my world upside down. The team accepted me with open arms, the coaches were excellent and sincerely cared about my well being, and I now proudly own 3 Big 12 Championship rings. I lived the dream for three years. Chartered flights, free gear, fame, and building life-lasting relationships. My club coach had always told me that college athletics would not be the same as club soccer; that club would be the most fun I'd ever have playing soccer in my life because once you reach the collegiate level, it's more of a business. Well he was wrong. That wasn't the case at A&M. That team was my family. I got invited by my coaches to Easter dinner because they knew I couldn't make it home for the holiday. Our director of operations invited me over to his house one night when he knew I was having a bad week dealing with scholarship and relationship problems. When Spencer died last year and I was supposed to leave practice early to go to the funeral, the coaches called practice early for everyone so that I wouldn't feel bad leaving or have to make a scene. What other program in the country is like that?

So tonight I was watching the team in a hard fought battle against the Huskers, and I thought I was over it. I thought I was doing well watching the game as just a spectator. But as soon as Hooper scored the game winning goal, everything changed. Seeing the girls celebrate and watching the fans go crazy got to me. Tears started forming and I didn't understand why. It's not like this was a huge game that the Ags had to win to save their season. Besides it being senior night, there was nothing special about the game. And that's when it hit me. It's not that I miss the game so much. I miss the team. A group of girls who'd do anything for me, who'd pick me up after I missed a critical shot and tell me I'll get the next one. The girls who'd make me cookies, or write me an encouraging note and leave it in my locker when things weren't going so great. Girls and coaches who still send me text messages while I'm up here in KY just saying they miss me. I miss jumping on Ashlee after she scores yet another goal, or hitting Ketchum or Petey in the chest like we're football players after they make an incredible defensive stop. The passion that I lived my life with day in and day out while I was in Aggieland will never be matched again.

So I realized something tonight: I'm not over it. And I doubt I will ever be. Because you can't get over something that made such a huge impression on your life. And while I don't want to live in the past, I am thankful that the past will always be a part of me. Because what I experienced for those three years was special, and I pray that I will never, ever get over it.

*first 3 pictures taken by Spencer Selvidge
1) Winning in 2OT against UNC (2006)
2) Cover of Battalion (2007)
3) Celebrating my goal against Mizzou at Big 12 Tourny (2007)
4) Senior night (2007)

Birthdays

2008-10-07T12:22:00.005-04:00

Birthdays don't make sense to me. I want them to because I love them so much, but really, they aren't anything special. Who came up with the idea of celebrating them? Here's my problem with them: 1. everyone has a birthday, and chances are you share your birthday with at least a few of your friends (I can name 5 of my friends who were all born on October 14th) - so you really aren't "special" on your "special day", 2. you did nothing/had no influence on your day of birth. If anything, all birthdays should be spent thanking your mother for going through all the pain and trouble of bringing you into this world. 3. No one really cares when it's your birthday, they only say "happy birthday" to you because they know that's what you want to hear, and because they realize that when it's their birthday, they want you to say "happy birthday" to them too. Honestly, how often have you been genuinely excited about one of your friend's birthdays (except the fact that you may be going out and doing something fun with a group of your best friends in celebration)? It's just a weird concept, that's all I'm saying. Cynical? Maybe.

Nonetheless, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW! Wish you weren't halfway around the world so that we could celebrate turning the big 21 with you! (I bet Matthew doesn't write a blog about your birthday, which must mean that I love you more.)

Love, your favorite sibling.

PS - This post by no means gives anyone an exemption from wishing me a happy birthday next week. Birthday cards and baked goods are graciously accepted.

Guest Writer #1 - "The Hunted"

2008-10-04T11:24:00.004-04:00

I've been looking to bring a little edge to this blog by posting other people's works, opinions, or stories. Much to my delight, this morning I awoke to find this delightful email from my brother who is studying abroad in Russia this semester. I have condensed it due to the impressive length of his email, but making sure not to leave any critical parts out. Please do enjoy.

Today I was to go to a college class in the History department where they are discussing American culture. Alone, I was to embark upon this journey, however, my roommate Russ came along, and praise the Good Lord he did. I showed up at the class, having been told nothing but the time and place. As soon as I met the professor, before she asked our names, she pondered, "What will you be talking about?" To this Russ and I had no response, as we had not been told anything. So we just went for it. We jumped in front of a small class (8 girls and 1 sleeping male) and introduced ourselves. We mentioned differences we witnessed in American culture, and then took questions. It went fairly well, but I wish we had known to prepare for something. My assignment for next week is to teach about American cities. I have given little thought to this as of yet, but I figured I'll talk about Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Washington D.C., Chicago, and maybe some southern city like Nashville or Atlanta. I don't know, that sounds like a lot.

I only made one big plunder today during class. Someone asked about the American view on the Georgia-Russia situation, and I responded that Americans do not understand why Russia attacked Georgia. At the word "attacked" the class jumped. I could tell they were not happy with this interpretation of the events. I tried to explain my way out of that, but I'm not sure how successful I was.

Well, as to the title of this email, Russ and I are learning, nay, experiencing what it feels to be gazelles. Coming to Russia, we were told that Russians may target Americans as fresh meat. After living here four weeks, we considered this myth simply fancies of American minds. Alas, we have discovered this to be otherwise. (Though, I do not have the time for it, I am currently reading The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner. As I eat out of the palm of Daniel Defoe, I can't help but think it is influencing this very email in which I write to you. I love the way he spells things. In his book, written in the early 18th century, English is spelled as it sounds. It is fun, nay, glorious. But alas, I digress; back to the hunt.

Several nights ago, Russ and I were getting ready for bed and had just turned the lights off when we heard Артён, our Russian friend that we played soccer with that I told you about. Well, he was outside our room, and we could hear the voices of two Russian girls. As our room is out of the way in the dormitory, we thought this strange. A minute or two later we heard a knock on the door. Russ and I scrambled to the threshold, jumping into pants as quickly as we could manage. The door opened and to our surprise, we saw not the likes of man, but that of the lioness. Two girls, Леза and Катя (Lee-zah and Kat-yah… a.k.a. Lisa and Kate), came forth into our room with one purpose; to pounce. A common dorm room quickly transformed into an African savannah. It was every gazelle for himself, and Russ was the prize catch. Since our first meeting, the girls have lost some aggressiveness. We have found them to be normal, friendly girls; though I often worry if the lioness is but hiding under gazelle clothing. Also, Russ is no longer the juiciest of catches, but I have received some attention as well. Russ and I were unsure if they had already paired us off in their minds, as we have always all spent time together. Tonight, we went on a walk with them and we are now under the impression that Lisa likes Russ and Kate likes me. Of course, I am very proud of these results, as Kate knows much more English and is more attractive, in my humble opinion.

As I write this email, Russ is out cleaning out mugs and getting ready because the girls are coming to our room tonight for tea. Oh I think I hear them now. It is fun to actually have Russian friends that speak English, but not a whole lot of English. Also, I must admit that the attention from attractive Russian females is also welcome and enjoyable. We haven't had any serious discussions with them yet –for example, religion – but those things are very personal in Russia. In fact, we had protestant Russians come in to one of our classes as guest lectures, and someone in our group asked them how they came to be saved, and the Russians literally could not answer the question. They sat in shock and did not know how to respond. Religion is simply not a topic of discussion in Russia.

So anyways, back to the girls. We enjoy spending time with them, but we think it is best we get to know them better before we start asking big questions. Another example, we still don't know how they ended up on our doorstep. Russ and I think it best to wait a while before we ask why they chose to knock on our door. But do not worry about Andrew. There has been no romance between anyone nor any physical contact. We just spend time together and talk. Russ and I are just having fun and getting to know Russians. We have no plans of starting relationships. Now, I cannot promise the ultimate outcome of our actions, but I believe we are acting with wisdom, caution, and fun. The guys here have had some good Bible studies and discussions together. Russia has been good.

Until next time,
Andrew the Jones

It's not just a girl thing

2008-09-29T17:54:00.006-04:00

(Yes, another med school story...sorry my blog has been so uni-dimensional lately.)

Today was a much anticipated day in gross anatomy...hemisection of our cadavers. We cut Carl in half (right above the iliac crests), then we cut his lower half longitudinally. So now Carl is 3 sections: a torso, right leg, and left leg. At first I was quite upset that we had to cut poor Carl up into pieces, but after seeing all the cool stuff in his pelvis, I now have accepted it and moved on.

Carl has been a great cadaver for us...perfect heart, huge muscles, great internal organs...just the total package. One of the cadavers right next to us has been a source of much amusement throughout the semester. The guys find it hilarious, the girls are disturbed by it. He was embalmed with an erection, and no matter how hard they try to get it to lay down, it won't. They have covered it with a rag thus far, creating a tent over his pelvic region. Well today, as they were cutting his lower limb/pelvis in half, they were to cut straight down the middle of the penis, that way we could see the urethra, corpora cavernosa, corpus spongiosum, etc. Well much to their surprise, they found two longitudinal white plastic tubes in his penis. That's right guys: penile implants. Needless to say, he stole the show for the day in lab.

One of our professors said that while that was amusing, it was not as shocking as what they found in a cadaver a few years back. While a group was dissecting the scrotum, they found an odd object in the testicles. They went to get a professor to ask what it was, thinking it could be a tumor, but when Dr. Brueckner came to the table to exam it, they quickly realized that it was not cancerous. As she was feeling it to try to decipher the origin of this oddity, she squeezed it and the penis went straight up into an erect position. He had a pump up erection device, just like the Reeboks of the early 90's.

Apparently girls aren't the only ones getting implants these days. But to the guys - there are alternatives. Viagra anyone?

Comic Relief

2008-09-28T22:52:00.004-04:00

One of the professors who helps out with our gross anatomy lab is your quintessential older surgeon...full of jokes, almost always laughing, and loves to grill us like we're interns, asking absolutely irrelevant questions that no first year medical student would be able to answer. Nonetheless, he is a favorite amongst most of the M1's due to his eccentric personality. One of the dissection tables is composed of all males, so he always hangs out around them so he can get away with saying lewd jokes. (At least he has enough tact to not do it in front of the ladies.) Luckily, one of my good friends is at that table of all guys, so he passes on the funny stories my way whenever they aren't too over-the-top.

"Boys, I've got a joke for you. What's the similarity between a brick and a fat white woman?"

"They both get laid by Mexicans."

UK College of Medicine - quality education, serious medicine. More stories to come later, I'm sure.

Ignorance is Bliss

2008-09-24T17:39:00.004-04:00

I got more action today than I have in my entire life. Today in class we dissected the penis. I was quite hesitant to actively partake in the dissection, allowing my partners to be hands on while I stood from a distance, soaking it all in. Of course we had the obligatory jokester in the group, making perverted comment one after another throughout the entire lab. I, on the other hand, was the most quiet I had been all semester. Not only because it's a foreign object to me, but because I knew I was in a room of people who's average age is probably 25, and realistically, I am probably the most ignorant about this subject than anyone else in the room.

At the end of lab, one of my friends, Mary, walked up to me and asked me if I could explain to her the difference between a circumcised vs uncircumcised penis anatomically. I thought about it, then I realized that I couldn't. I know how to explain it to someone, but I don't think I could identify it on an actual human. Unashamed, Mary asks the next closest person, Reggie, if he could explain it. He cracks up, then realized quickly that both Mary and I were serious. He could not believe it, started making a scene, attracting more attention to us. Luckily, Mary quickly ended his parade by saying "Hey, I'm not embarrassed by this fact. I truly just want you to show me because as a physician, I am going to need to know the difference." Reggie then got the picture and tried to show us, but did a poor job because Mary and I left still trying to visualize the uncircumcised. Some other guys overheard us and told us just to google it. Yeah, don't know about that. I'll probably just stick to Netters.

I am greatly looking forward to the day that as a physician, I can look at both female and male genitalia and not feel awkward. I have a feeling it's going to be a long road. I probably shouldn't go into gynecology or urology.

One Year Anniversary

2008-09-21T12:06:00.008-04:00

This morning in church, as I was sitting down after the praise & worship, the guy in front of me put his arm around his wife's shoulder. No big deal, you're thinking, except for the fact that as he did so, I saw the huge, shining, beautiful Aggie ring on his right ring finger. My face immediately lit up. Ashley, sitting next to me, saw me staring at his ring and she was quick in making the connection (which I was quite impressed, seeing as she knows very little about Texas A&M). She leaned over and whispered to me that I should pound him, right then and there, with my Aggie ring. I withstood the temptation and decided to wait until after the service to say anything. I noticed the wife also had an Aggie ring on, which brought an insurmountable amount of joy to my morning. Aggie marriages, a gift from God.

"Do I see some Aggie rings?" I leaned over and said to them once the service was over.

Confused, but kindly, they respond "why yes you do."

"Well I'm Elisabeth Jones, Class of '07. So nice to meet you."

We stood there and talked for a bit. They were both Class of '89. The wife is from Bardstown, which is how they ended back up here in Kentucky. The husband is a pediatrician at UK, and I had actually seen his car parked at the hospital many times, proudly displaying the Association of Former Students bumper sticker. I didn't admit this to him, but I also love his other bumper sticker, "I used to be cool." But I should have, because I would have let him know that he still is cool. Wearing his Aggie ring every day, in a community that knows nothing about what it means and stands for, is cool in my book.

"I'll see you on the rounds! Good luck until then!", he says to me as we walk out of church.

God bless Aggie rings.

Picture: The day I got my Aggie ring. Exactly one year ago from today. Happy anniversary to me!

Dance it out

2008-09-18T12:26:00.004-04:00

Typically when I am sick of studying, or I am just having a bad day, I resort to Facebook to be my escape. But since I quit that cold turkey this past weekend in efforts of maximizing my time for memorizing anatomical principles and facts, that has not been an option for me this week. Sadly, I must admit that this has been extremely difficult. Twice I clicked on my Facebook favorites icon to just get a sneak peak, but due to my conscience, I quickly exed out of mozilla firefox so that I did not have to admit to you, my loyal readers, that I was that weak.

So here I am, sitting at my desk, taking an old exam to get a feel of how far I am along with this studying process, and I continue to make stupid mistake after stupid mistake on the questions. Frustrated, I decide that I deserve a Facebook break. That's right. I haven't been on it for 5 days and I just want a measly 5 minute break to check to see what life is like on the other side.
But alas, I withstood the temptation and decided to follow in the footsteps of Meredith Grey. Whenever she has a really bad day, she goes home, turns the music on really loud, and just dances, freeing her mind of the stresses and worries. So that's what I did. I turned on my current favorite song as loud as possible (without disturbing the neighbors), gladly got out of my desk chair, and jumped around like a silly person for 5 minutes, singing into my fake microphone as best I could. I can promise you it wasn't a pretty sight, but It got the job done.

On a side note, if I had still been at A&M, I could have taken a different approach to escaping the madness. I would have just gone to practice, my teammates would have seen me out of it, and Kati Jo would have yelled, "Ags, Let's hug it out! Hug it out, ladies!" Immediately, everyone would start hugging everyone, with KJ of course going to G first and squeezing him until the whole debacle was over. Oh, those were the good ole days.

Dedication (?)

2008-09-14T20:25:00.004-04:00

To whom it may concern,

I will be MIA from Facebook this week. If you write me a message or wall post, you will not be getting a response back until Friday afternoon at 4pm, when I am done with my anatomy midterm. This post is not to deter you in any way from writing something funny/encouraging to me, just a warning that there will be a delayed response on my end. Let it be known that any sort of contact through the blogosphere, email (ejones1484@gmail.com), or texting is always welcome.

Thanks for your time,
Management

Life Lessons

2008-09-08T16:42:00.005-04:00

You know, it's funny. Life that is.

If you go through a rough patch, you tend to think that your current situation is so much worse than anyone else's. You automatically write off anyone else's worries or complaints with their job, or school, or personal life. "Well they don't have to study 24/7 and watch their social life go down the drain" or "they don't know what it's like to study 40 hours for a quiz and get a 40% on it" and you pridefully chuckle inside when you hear them say it's been a hard adjustment for them with their new job, because you just know deep down inside that your place in life is so much worse than their's.

I sit at a desk/library/coffee house almost all day long, studying muscle attachments and innervations, cell biology and histology, or embryology. I sit there and rack my brains, trying to find some way to fit one more piece of information up there. I become disillusioned when I turn the page to find another long list of things I have to memorize before Thursday. I then glance at the clock and see that almost half of my day is gone and I haven't really gotten anything accomplished yet. Then one of two things sets in: panic that I am never going to be able to pass this test, thus I will fail out of medical school and disappoint all the people that are expecting me to become a doctor, or I find a way to muster up a little pride and say that I am not going to be one of the people who fails. I am smarter than that! I can do it!

Either way, I am the center of this. All day, every day, I am thinking about myself. I haven't quite figured out if my selfishness has risen to a new level in the past 5 weeks since starting school, or if it is just now being revealed because I am being challenged more than I ever have. Either way, it must be said, I am selfish. No doubt about it.

Life is so much harder when it's all about you. When you can step back and see the big picture, a lot of your mountain-sized worries seem to become hills. When you can put your pride to the side and fully surrender to God and trust that He is in charge, there is a sense of freedom that comes with it. I don't have to worry about what kind of doctor I will become, or even more relevant to now, how well I will do on this upcoming examination. As long as I am a good steward of what he has given me and try my hardest, He will take care of the rest. And his plan is so much greater than anything I could ever dream up.

I was asked at my bible study tonight what my motivation in life is? Why I wake up in the morning and go to class? What my dreams are? My gut reaction to every single one of those questions was me, me, me. Sadly, my instinct wasn't to say "to serve God" or "get to know Him better". And I know those are sunday school answers that have been drilled in our heads since we learned John 3:16, but I guess right now I am now seeing the beauty in an answer like that. My life would have much greater purpose if I did truly wake up in the morning and look forward to finding out more about my Lord and falling more in love with Him, instead of just focusing on how I am going to survive medical school. Because frankly, that's depressing.

As most of you can tell by now, medical school hasn't been what I envisioned. I never thought it would be a cake walk, but I thought that if I put the time in and worked hard, I would do fine. That hasn't been the case. My grades are struggling and my attitude is right there with it. I am not liking the person that I am becoming.

Now my eyes have been opened to my faults and I am working day by day to improve my outlook on life. And more importantly, to find purpose in what I do. I am starting to see God more and more in my studies. When studying about human development, learning that a baby's heart is pumping at just 4 weeks old! When the baby is just centimeters long in a mother's womb it has a heart that is actually beating! Understanding all these embryonic foldings and cell differentiations and miracles that have to go into each and every one of us being normal is breath-taking. We can not be the product of random chance. There must be a God. And He must have a vision and plan for our lives.

Trust.

That's what it's all about. Give up your problems and worries, because this thing we call 'life' is just not about you.

$50 Economics Lesson

2008-09-02T12:00:00.004-04:00

My brother sent this to me and I found it worthy of sharing.

I was talking to a friend of mine's little girl, and she said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?'

She replied, 'I'd give houses to all the homeless people.'

'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'You don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward a new house.'

She thought that over for a few seconds while her Mom glared at me, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?'

And I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party!'

Her folks still aren't talking to me.

Sarah Palin - McCain's Running Mate

2008-08-29T12:36:00.007-04:00

I was shocked when I got the text this morning from my dad that McCain had chosen a female running mate. My first reaction was, "what was he thinking?!" But when I got home and looked up who this Sarah Palin lady was, I quickly jumped to the other side of the boat. Pain is a strong conservative, which will be great to balance out McCain's moderate stance. She's a woman, which will bring in some of those female voters out there who buy in to the "we need a woman in power" hysteria that Clinton had going for her. As Mike Huckabee said in an interview earlier today, "Governor Palin ... will remind women that if they are not welcome on the Democrat's ticket, they have a place with Republicans." She's also very young (44), which brings the McCain ticket to an average age of 58, while BO's is 56. She has strong morals, with a very strong stance on pro-life, which will appease the Christian right. And even more appealing to me, is the fact that she seems so down to earth, like a normal American mom. Just look at the picture!

My only hesitancy with her is that she is not a big name on the national stage. She just became governor of Alaska two years ago, so the experience is somewhat lacking. But I think McCain more than makes up for that. Also, her youngest child has Downs Syndrome, so with having a special needs child, along with 4 other children, how much time and energy will she truly be able to devote to Washington? But I am not going to hold her family against her. I appreciate the fact that she is not a typical politician that has devoted her whole life to gaining power. She has other priorities. Balance, my friends, is key.

So here we go. I'm now officially excited about the McCain/Palin ticket. McCain put a smashing on BO in the Rick Warren interview, and I think his choice as running mate will be quite a popular choice among the conservatives of this great country. He's on the rise.

I couldn't have said it better

2008-08-27T00:02:00.004-04:00

I came across this blog and I believe it perfectly sums up how I feel right now. Overwhelmed, yet guilty about getting behind in the first place. It's my fault I failed my first quiz of medical school, no one elses. (Although when the average is a 60% you know the quiz was a wee bit ridiculous.) Anyways, read and enjoy.

Taken from: http://rumorsweretrue.wordpress.com/2006/11/01/pancakes-every-morning/

Title- Med School Metaphor: Pancakes Every Morning

I have a lot to learn. By Friday, anyway. I have a Pharmacology exam followed by a Pathophysiology exam this coming Monday. Once again, I find myself behind. It’s the funny kind of behind where you look at the stack of notes on your desk (2″ of one, 3″ of the other) and sort of chuckle. “Ha. This is going to be funny.” Cue despair.

Looking at it now, I’m tempted to start the passive bragging of impossible odds. “You have no idea how hard it is,” I’d say. “Medical school is like trying to take a drink from a fire hose,” I’d brag.

And that’s total bullshit.

At the beginning of each course, we’re given a syllabus telling us how we’re going to be graded, the question break-down for each test, and the schedule of lectures each day for the next 4-5 months. Nothing is going to sneak up on you unless you can’t read the print on the page (in which case you’re blind and things sneak up on you all the time).

But it’s sunny outside or snowing outside or Tuesday. Whatever. You’re in medical school to become a doctor, not to be in a classroom (scheduling conflicts here) and you find yourself out on the weekends, maybe catching a movie on the weekday, and so on. You blow off the first week of any course because the material is supposed to be introductory and you certainly blow off the first week after any exam to recuperate. Maybe you take off two weeks if it was especially difficult and draining.

Eventually though, the next exam is closer than the last exam and you have to return to the desk and pretend to be a serious student. The first week back studying, you won’t be as efficient and as familiar with the material as you were leading up to the last test, so there’s some built-in catching up to do. You can’t understand the material taught TODAY because you blew off the introduction, so until you catch up, you keep falling behind. By the time you’re back in your stride the exam is so close you can feel it’s breath on your neck and you still have material to cover on a first pass. Let’s not forget: you haven’t reviewed or committed anything to memory at this point. It’s now that you understand the truth:

Medical school is like trying to eat five pancakes every morning for breakfast.

You know you can do it. A Premed advisory committee endorsed you saying, “He has the stomach for it. He’s committed.” And you prove them all right. Every day you show up with your first-year optimism and your annoying hunger for learning and you clean that plate (just kidding, it’s adorable). But you begin to notice that those pancakes are slowing you down a little each day and the sugar highs and lows are screwing with your sleep. Smart person that you are, you decide to pass on the flapjacks one day. You think to yourself, “Self, I’m going to eat ten pancakes tomorrow so that I don’t have to eat any today.”

But it never stops. Turns out that “self” isn’t the most responsible lender, and before you know it there are 40 pancakes in front of you and your plate needs to be clean by tomorrow. So yeah, at this point it looks impossible. But really, it’s your fault.

In the future, as I like to imagine it, I’ll be in charge of all medical school admissions. The process will be six weeks long and will consist of nothing more than showing up each morning to eat five pancakes, at which point you can then go about whatever you were going to do that day. At the end of the five weeks a few jaded, newly diabetic hopefuls will come to my office and, mixed with both pride and resignation say, “I did it. I finished those goddamn pancakes.”

“Wow,” I’ll say. “That’s very impressive. You must be very proud, and your parents must be very proud. Just one more thing.” They’ll reflexively clutch their stomachs, shifting their girth from one hip onto the next and groan, “What’s that?”

“Regurgitate it.”

Truth Hurts

2008-08-26T11:58:00.002-04:00

I am not cut out for med school.

First Publication

2008-08-24T20:01:00.004-04:00

I got an email earlier this month from a company in Seattle, Schmap, that wanted to use one of my pictures that I took this past spring break in their next publication. They found my picture on Flickr and nominated it for one of the pictures to be used in their "University of Washington" section and it ended up being selected! Whoop! Here is the link to the picture I took, and here is the link for the magazine it was used in. I am kinda shocked they selected it because it was a cloudy day so the sky isn't anything to look at, and it was one week before the cherry blossoms bloomed, which is what UDub's campus is famous for in the spring. And for all of those who know Alex Lee, that is her sitting on the bench for me posing. So you got your first modeling gig, Alex. :)

It's not National Geographic, but I'll take it.

Mid-day affliction

2008-08-19T13:10:00.004-04:00

Problem: I am completely worthless between 12 and 2:30pm every day. No exceptions. No matter how much caffeine I consume in attempts to keep myself focused on my studies, I somehow always find myself waking up from a quick snooze. And then I just give up and watch the olympics for a bit, before my conscience kicks in and I feel horrible for wasting my time. You would think topics such as gastrulation and neurulation, or sympathetic pathways of the ANS would keep me interested, but that has yet to be the case. If it weren't for Coldplay, I wouldn't be able to focus between 3-6pm. Praise Jehovah for Chris Martin.

Solution: A mandatory nap/rest time needs to be instituted between 1-3pm every day. China has been doing this for years. Schools and workplaces shut down in the early afternoon so that people can go home to relax and rejuvenate. It is obviously working for them. 43 gold metals. Enough said.

And it starts...

2008-08-11T14:47:00.003-04:00

I arose bright and early this morning to the stress of knowing I wasn't even prepared for my first day of medical school. The professor had sent out an email a few days ago advising the class to read 30 pages of the anatomy book and then glance over the lecture notes. I had forgotten to do both until late that night so I decided to just get up early and do it in the morning. Although, after the extreme increase of adrenaline that was screaming throughout my body after watching Phelps et al win the relay last night, I probably should have just stayed up and done it then. Nonetheless, I awoke before dawn and accomplished everything asked of me, including taking the obligatory First Day of School picture in my brand new scrubs.

Simply put, class was a bore. I printed out my notes in color so I didn't even get to color along, which is why I was looking forward to anatomy so much. But after suffering through 2 hours of the lecture on the back muscles and vertebrae, we were led to the anatomy lab and set up shop around our cadaver. When we got there all the bodies were covered in coffin-like apparatus so we had no idea what our bodies looked like. Male of female? Black, white, brown, or yellow? Fat or skinny? Young or old? The anticipation was unbelievable. The combination of excitement with nerves, the smell of wintergreen formaldehyde pervading through the cadavers, and the 116 people crammed into a lab was almost as exhilarating as the opening ceremonies in Beijing this past Friday night. Almost.

When they told us to open up our dissection tables, I wasn't prepared to see my guy laying there face up. I had assumed they would have already flipped him over since we were dissecting the back today, but no, we got to do that ourselves. The skin was extremely hard, like rubber. I volunteered to be the first person to grab the scalpel and go at it (once the teacher had come to our table and explained what we were supposed to do). You had to put some strength in it to cut through all the skin and fat. Our guy* had a few extra pounds to spare, so cutting through his lower back and shoulder/neck area was particularly difficult because the excess amount of superficial fascia. FYI, fat is disgusting. No more McDonalds.

The two hours we were in there flew by. I had not really been looking forward to lab because I didn't know how well I would handle cutting open a dead body, but I quickly got into it and had a blast working with my lab partners. Getting to actually touch and hold the lattisimus dorsi, trapezius, deltoid, all these muscles that I had worked on toning so vigorously in the gym the past 5 years on my life, was amazing.

So let the studying commence. This is the beginning of a long 4 years.

*We haven't named our cadaver yet. Many names are up for debate. He has to have a distinguished name because he was kind enough to donate his body to science. So far Winston, Albert, and Carl have been thrown out there. We're going to give him a full name (first, middle, and last) and we've already knighted him as a "sir". Let me know of any good prestigious sounding names that you can think of.

The New Pad

2008-08-06T11:37:00.006-04:00

Location, location, location. That's what my new apartment is screaming, besides ghetto, ghetto, ghetto. I just moved in to my new pad this past weekend, thanks to the much needed and appreciated help by my family. I am a 90 second walk to my classroom building, a 3 minute walk to my mom's and dad's clinics, and a 7 minute walk to my gross/histo labs in the main hospital. I can literally role out of bed in the mornings and not have to struggle with traffic, parking, shuttling, etc. Whoop!

While the location is superb, the area of town is not stellar. There is a constant flux of homeless people walking up and down the streets, searching through our dumpsters, and whistling at me. I don't exactly feel safe, but hopefully I will get used to it. There are 5 med students living in the same complex I am, so we will probably walk together at nights.

The good news is that my apartment is very clean - new carpet, new tile, newly painted walls, new toilet seat, and supposedly, soon to be installed, new doors. Yet, somehow, the apartment still reeks of smoke. I thought it would go away after leaving the windows/doors open all day on Saturday as we were moving and then putting in some plug-ins. But all my effort has been in vain. I get hit in the face with the stench of smoke every time I walk in to my apartment, and my clothes are starting to smell like it too. This is a crisis like none other. Something must be done to change it immediately. Also, I don't have a dishwasher or a washer/dryer. And I have a wall AC unit. I totally feel like I'm roughing it, but I will survive! :)

Thus far, living solo has been an enjoyable experience. I loved getting to come up with the decorating themes and organizing the furniture as I like. Pictures will come later once everything in my apartment is organized and pictures are hung, but my living room/dining area is a Texas theme (as in the state, not the university, with multiple A&M things), and my bedroom is a Greek Isle theme, mostly blue and white with bright pinks and yellows to accent it. It's my little Mediterranean oasis.

Well I'm off to grab some pad thai with my mom for lunch. I think I am going to get used to this being close to home thing!

Senior Superlatives

2008-07-30T22:53:00.001-04:00

I have some pretty great friends, so I thought I'd hand out some awards and give shout-outs to those deserving. After a long, scrutinizing process, where intense mathematical equations were used, the following were determined to be the most exemplary.

Most Athletic: Ashlee Pistorius and Jason Meyer

Most Likely to Succeed: Diana Davis and Daniel Weizel

Funniest: Gail Macklin and Justin Wolfshohl

Best Dressed: Annie Burnett and Chad Peter

Most Creative: Kate Mailen and Spencer Green

Most Gullible: Alex Lee and Parker Dalton

Most Eccentric: Suzzette DeVloo and Ben Bitner

Most Mature: Rachel Sok and Matthew Jones

Sweetest: Acacia Littrell and Kent Gray

Most Competitive: Nicki Mechem and Nathan Li

Biggest Flirt: Natalie Currie and Andrew Hopewell

Class Clown: Kelly Wilmoth and Andrew Key

Cutest Couple: Amber Gnatzig and Kirkland Rivers

Most School Spirit: Sarah Foster and Michael McGuire

Hottest: Melissa Garey and Patton Bedford

Best Smile: Ashley Raisor and Michael Fermier

A Fleeting Dream

2008-07-23T13:32:00.004-04:00

I guess it's time for me to give up on one of my dreams that I've held so passionately to the past 3 years: it looks as if I will not be marrying an Aggie. Hopefully my Aggie friends who read this will sympathize with me on this fact, because we are really the only ones that truly understand and grasp how special it is to be an Aggie. But I'm sure all my unfortunate, I mean non-Aggie, friends out there are probably rolling their eyes and thinking I take this whole A&M thing too far.

Today in my Prep anatomy course that I am taking (I've already been labeled as one of the nine "stupid" kids in my med school class who has to take this Prep course while the rest of our class is enjoying their summers), I told the guy I was sitting next to that I graduated from A&M. He responds, "A&M?". I had to then explain that I mean "Texas A&M", and then he just nodded his head, like I might as well have said I graduated from Wyoming. People up here have no idea about Aggieland. It kills me. I'm suffocating up here in Wildcat country. The ignorance is alarming.

I wear my Aggie ring proudly every day. I still carry around my A&M Nike soccer backpack, and today I wore my Texas A&M Soccer rain gear. I really am a walking billboard for my alma mater. And I don't see that changing any time soon. But I am starting to see that not only do people not care that I graduated from A&M, but many find it annoying that I would even sport anything other than UK gear around campus. They hate when I whoop. They don't want to hear how magical Kyle Field is. Really, the only positive feedback I get from people is, "Oh, we stole Billy G from y'all." Of course, I take full credit for that.

So I am throwing in the towel for my dream of an Aggie marriage, of sawing varsity's horns off at the wedding reception, of raising little future Ags who want to follow in their parents footsteps, and of having A&M paraphernalia plastered all over my walls in my house. It's a sad day for me. I feel defeated.

There's no hiding

2008-07-16T22:36:00.005-04:00

The stalking capabilities on the internet are endless. I am not saying that in a creepy way, but in a fantastic/I wanna kiss whoever made up the internet* kind of way. Unless someone lives in a remote village in the rain forests of Brazil, there is a high probability that you will find something about their job or location if you search the internet hard enough.

My family used to be really close to the Clarke family. They were native Australians that moved to the States for a couple of years so that Steve, the father, could go to Asbury Seminary. We ended up going to the same church as them and our families instantly bonded. My older brother was in between ages of their 2 oldest daughters, Trisha and Kate; I was the same age as Joanna, and Andrew was the same age as the youngest daughter, Sarah. We all hung out like one happy family for the majority of my childhood. We went camping with them to Canada. We had cookouts all the time. When they finally moved back to Australia we promised we would come visit, and sure enough we did a couple of years later. They were outgoing, loud, and definitely not proper, which made them so much fun to be around.

Well after the parents divorced, they dropped off the face of the earth. We completely lost touch with them and have not been able to find where they are or how they are doing. We have thought of them often over the last ten years, and tried searching for them on the internet, but were unsuccessful. I've tried searching for Joanna a couple of times on Facebook but couldn't find her, and Andrew has tried the same with Sarah. Well tonight we decided to give it another try. We searched and searched Facebook for a Sarah, Kate, or Joanna Clarke in Australia, but tons of profiles came up and we couldn't tell if it was them. We hadn't seen them in 12 years, so that didn't help. So Andrew decided to just write a message to all the Sarah Clarkes in Australia and I did the same with Kate Clarkes. We were hoping one of them would respond and say it was them.

I also tried googling Sarah, Kate, Joanna, and Judy Clarke but wasn't able to find anything. After searching for over an hour, I gave up and was just counting on getting a reply to one of the messages I had sent. My mom then came upstairs and wanted to get in on the search, so she gets on the computer and types in "Steve Clarke Australian pastor" and BOOM, she gets a hit. It takes her to this female blues singer myspace page, Fiona Boyes. She is looking through the page and sees at the bottom to contact manager Steve Clarke "The Pastor" if you have any questions. We don't know if that is THE Steve that we need, but it is ironic that he comes up on an Australian lady's page with the nickname of "The Pastor" behind it, especially because last we had heard about Steve was that he had married some famous musician and was touring the US with her.

So then I get on Facebook and search Fiona Boyes and ask her to be my friend because I wanted to see her profile, hoping to get more clues. But then I remember that I can look at her list of friends, so I pull that up and sure enough, two of her friends are Sarah and Joanna Clarke. We found them!!! We actually found the Clarkes! After a decade of no contact, we are now waiting on them to confirm our friendship requests! We ended up finding a picture of Fiona and Steve together, and it is definitely the Steve Clarke that we know.

It's a small world after all. Thanks to the internet.

*not Al Gore

Revelation #2

2008-07-11T12:04:00.003-04:00

Since my freshman year of college, when Sarah and I were trapped in the dungeon commonly referred to as Kirwan IV, we openly shared our revelations with each other, even marking them on our calendars to go down in history. To count something as a revelation, it has to be ground-breaking and monumental. For example, Sarah woke up one morning convinced that she was going to marry Trey Moeller, a family friend whom she had not seen since she was in 8th grade. Obviously this is not going to happen since she is marrying Kent this fall, but at the time it was revolutionary because Sarah had never dated, nor had she been seriously interested in doing so.

Earlier this semester I decided to start making my revelations public again, for posterity's sake. If you recall, I had a revelation that I am going to marry a nerd. Just for clarification, that doesn't mean a suspender/bowtie/thick glasses-wearing kind of nerd, that just means someone who is intelligent and loves to learn and isn't ashamed of it.

Well I just had another revelation last night.

I've always thought my younger brother was the bomb. He is good-looking, smart, funny, athletic...just a dream boat. I never understood why the opposite sex was not falling at his feet. He has everything in the world going for him. Well this summer we have spent a lot of time together, more than we have in years. And I have found that we have been getting on each other's nerves a lot. Half of our conversations end with someone saying something smart, and even occasionally ending in a slap. I started to think maybe he isn't such a prime catch. But then it dawned on me. It's because we're the same person. We have very similar personalities, so of course when we are together for extended periods of time, we start to clash. We both want to make the funny joke, or be chosen first at pick-up soccer games, or be seen as the "poster child". We are one in the same.

So using simple logic, if A=B, and B=C, then A=C. Which means, I am the bomb. Just a dream boat for the opposite sex. Now that's a revelation! :)

Great Expectations

2008-07-07T17:47:00.007-04:00

Expectations are a double-edged sword. If something/one lives up to them, then you experience the fantastic feeling of having your desires met - the way you've always dreamed. But if expectations are put too high, you are only setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. So what do you do? Enter into situations without any expectations? Impossible.

I figured I would lay out my naive, ignorant expectations of medical school now, so that I could look back on this and get a good laugh in a couple of years.

I fully plan on everyone in my class becoming good friends. My parents' med school class gelled quite fantastically, and I want nothing more to have a cohesive class that can find fun in all the madness. For instance, my parents class made up a student, Nick Pavona, that went through all 4 years of school with them. Classmates would trade off taking the tests for him. His scores were posted along with every one else's. The teachers had no idea that he didn't exist. The funniest part about it is that during their rotations, people would page Nick Pavona over the hospital loud speakers, telling him to meet up with Dr. so-and-so pronto. Classic. Example #2 - one of my parents classmates, Louis, married a girl in the year behind them after his 2nd year. One day in his wife's class they were discussing topics of sexual nature, and the teacher asked how big a typical male penis is. His wife, a newlywed, eagerly raises her hand, dying to give the answer to something she had just discovered. Of course the teacher calls on her, and she confidently says, "9 inches". Rumor spread, and for the remainder of Louis' medical school career, he was called King Louis the IX.

I expect to be quite busy, but still have free time. Some friends have told me that if you study all afternoon after you get out of class, then you will have most nights off to relax. While others say they study almost 10 hours a day, with breaks only for meals. I can't do that. For some reason I am expecting medical school to greatly enhance my social life. I envision me hanging out with my new friends at my apartment, having Grey's Anatomy parties, dominating them in game nights, and cheering the Cats on to victory behind BCG.

Speaking of Grey's Anatomy, that's what I expect the hospital scene to be like. Drama, drama, drama. And I say this in a good way. Never boring, trying to figure out who's sleeping with who. And I will find my McDreamy (I am Meredith, for all those who don't know...not Cristina, who some joke that I am because of my super-competitiveness).

I am looking forward with great anticipation to the first day of med school - 4 weeks from today. I am excited about meeting new people, seeing what I am capable of medicinally, and starting a new chapter of my life.

"Now, I return to this young fellow. And the communication I have got to make is, that he has great expectations." ~Charles Dickens

Go Green or Go Home

2008-06-27T19:22:00.006-04:00

At the beginning of the summer I made a life-changing decision: I decided to go green. I had always found green people to be quite annoying. All my loyal readers can probably recall my astonishment towards Seattle's mandatory recycling that I experienced earlier this year. Part of me rejected it because I didn't believe the government should have control over what I do with my own trash, but the other reason was because the economics behind it doesn't make sense - it costs more to recycle than to make things new. It's just not efficient use of our tax dollars. So who cares about the environmental factors? Who cares about the dying whales? God made the earth and then gave mankind dominion over it. I never fell for the "mother nature" movement, that preserving the earth should be our first priority in life. I was no tree hugger. I gave my full support for oil-drilling in Alaska (in fact, I won a debate in high school over oil-drilling). And I thought the entire global warming issue was a hoax.

Well, I hate to break it to you, but none of those ideals have changed. I've only gone green so that whenever I do something that a liberal would find responsible, I can pat myself on the back and proclaim that I am now green. It's a way to gain instant respect and popularity amongst the Democratic community. I honestly really couldn't care less about what they think of me, but I get great satisfaction out of seeing them ignorantly light up when I say something as simple as, "I don't flush the toilet after every use because I want to conserve this beautiful earth's clean water. I'm green." Or when I explain to them that I am going to live close enough to campus to bike to class so that I won't use up the limited source of oil that our earth has left. Too bad they can't see past me to realize that the reason I am not using water or gas is to save my own money. I could care less about preserving the environment, but if that is a side effect of my actions, then so be it.

My family has really jumped on board with going green. For the first month of summer, we didn't turn on our air conditioning. We just kept the windows open and lived in harmony with God's beautiful creation. We may have been sweating, but we were putting our own desires aside to preserve energy for generations to come. Either that, or our AC was broken?

My brother has taken this to a whole other level that I am not dedicated enough to reach. He will wait until I am done drinking out of a glass or eating off of a plate and then use the same dishes I did so that we will have less to clean up later, conserving even more water by reducing the amount of dishwasher loads we have to do. He turns off all the lights in the house before he leaves, and turns of monitors on the computers, because apparently, "if 360 monitors would be turned off when not in use, the power that would be saved would be enough to power a car for an entire year." Good to know. I gave him a green high five for that tid bit of information.

So next time you go to flush the toilet, think twice. When you are asked if you want paper or plastic, choose paper. And when you want to grill out that perfect steak, do so with an electric or propane gas grill, because charcoal emits high levels of carbon into our atmosphere. Carbon emissions have the potential to kill the beasts of the field, such as longhorns, and who would want that?

The start of something new

2008-06-09T11:33:00.003-04:00

I've picked up a new hobby recently, not one that most people find entertaining, but it has brought me great delight. It's the art of being anti-social. I don't know where it came from, but it has overtaken my life. I have deleted over 50 friends on facebook. Most of the victims are people that I have never talked to once in my life. I assume that they were soccer fans, and now that I am no longer anyone important, I figured they wouldn't be hurt by the termination of our "friendship". Nonetheless, the "Remove from Friends" link at the bottom of every profile page is screaming my name. I didn't care when my Newsfeed was announcing the marriage of John and Jane Doe. It is very freeing to unclutter one's facebook. You should try it. It's simply wonderful.

My new hobby has extended beyond Facebook too, as I have discovered there are many more ways to express my new-found love of being anti-social. I have developed a strong distaste for my phone. In fact, I rarely ever have it with me any more. I'll be honest in saying that I haven't had much activity on my phone since being in Kentucky, yet the few times that people have kindly attempted to call me, I haven't called them back. It's nothing personal, I promise. I am ignoring everyone's calls. I leave my phone in my purse on silent all day, and don't check it for hours upon end. This means that if you text me, you may get a significantly delayed response. While missed calls make me upset because of the guilt associated with not returning the call, text messages still make me happy and will always be replied to.

This new hobby may be a defense mechanism to combat my unpopularity. Or it could be my way of not wanting to move on and make new friends at UK as I hold on to the memories of Aggieland. I don't have the answer, but I do know that if you go a long time without talking to me, please do not be upset, as this is the same treatment that the Pope or Queen would get.

All-American...pssh

2008-06-03T08:37:00.012-04:00

I have reached a point in my post-college athlete career where I am truly a has-been. Before, I liked to joke about it, but deep down I knew I could step onto the A&M field and contribute to the team. But that is not the case any more. I am now in the worst shape of my life. What used to be rock-hard abs, killer quads, and ripped arms are now nothing but flab. I haven't worked out in well over two months. You probably think I'm kidding. Well I'm not. The last time I lifted weights was in January. The last time I got out and jogged was in February, when Justin coaxed me into running the 5K at GLOW by telling me he expected more from a D1 athlete. So of course I wasn't going to take that trash talk...I stepped up to the plate and ran. And proceeded to make a complete fool of myself. Long distance running is the bane of my existence.

I've been spoiled being able to rely on my sport to keep me in shape. This is what makes soccer superior to every other sport. While I do feel like many sports out there require endurance to play at your peak (ie football or baseball), you don't get naturally fit just playing the sport. I may be biased, but I believe soccer players are the most complete athletes - heart, lungs, mind, and muscular strength. I want to get back to that. I need to get back to that. My self-esteem has plummeted in the last 6 months, especially when people bring up the fact that I am a Strength and Conditioning All-American. It's true, I was (am). But I am nothing but an charlatan now. So it's time to suck up my distaste for running and just do it.

I'll start tomorrow.

It's all Greek to me

2008-05-29T21:02:00.005-04:00

I signed up to do research this summer. All my friends told me that was the stupidest decision I've ever made. They said it was the last summer of freedom I'll ever have. That I should go travel Europe. Or lay by the pool all summer. Two problems: I don't have the funds to go to Europe. And I don't have the skin type to sit by the pool. I'd turn into one big freckle. Research seemed like the logical thing to do. I'd get paid. I'd learn a ton. I'd get my foot in the door at the hospital and the medical school. I'd be ahead of the game compared to the rest of my classmates. I'd enhance my CV. The list goes on and on. Still, part of me was wanting to have a relaxing summer before the chaos starts in August. But it is time to grow up. Time to be responsible for the first time in my life.

I've never done research before. I've never worked in a lab. I've never taken a medical school class. So I was already intimidated before I stepped foot in the Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky this past week. But I figured my boss would understand this and would give me a project that I could handle. Let me take a second to introduce you to my boss - Dr. Natasha Kyprianou. She is as Greek as they come. She is a go-getter. Intense. Intelligent. Enthusiastic. I am glad I have been to Greece so that I can truly appreciate her. The first time I sat down with her in her office, we discussed American politics for 30 minutes before we ever got to what I'd be doing in the lab this summer. My gut told me not to get into a debate with my boss about the upcoming election and the current president, so I attempted to just nod and agree with what she was saying, but when she directly asked me, "Do you like Bush?" "What do you think about the war?", it's hard to skirt around the issues. So I told her my two cents, and we had a very intellectual, amiable discussion about the political scene in America over the past ten years. I enjoyed our conversation very much. She was a staunch Democrat, and I am obviously not, but we were civil and both had the opportunity to put our beliefs on the table. She grew up in a very political family in Greece, where her father was in the Parliament and eventually became mayor of Athens! This lady is really into her politics. She told me afterwards that she enjoyed our discussion because most people in my generation don't give a care about politics. She was impressed with how articulate I was. 1 point for Jones!

We finally moved on to what I will be doing this summer. And I wish I could tell you what it is that I am going to be doing, but it is top secret. Actually, I can't tell you because I have no idea what I am going to be doing. She spent 30 minutes telling me, but it was so over my head that all I picked up was that I will be curing prostate cancer. Superb! Then she handed me six journal articles that I need to read before next week so that I will have a good background before I start the actual experiments (where I get to castrate mice...woohoo). I can honestly say that I only know 1 in 5 words in these journal articles. I think it's time to invest in a medical dictionary. I am in WAY over my head.

But she told me that I will get my name published with the article, so that's great news! Then she asked if I was a good writer. I thought she was asking because she might want me to look over the article before it gets sent to the journals, so I said that writing probably comes easier to me than most because of my history major, and she said "Great, you will also be writing a chapter in my book this summer. Of course I will critique it, but you will be in charge of writing it." WHAT?! I am supposed to cure cancer and write a chapter in 8 weeks!? I didn't realize I was superwoman.

There's still hope

2008-05-22T23:11:00.004-04:00

Just when everyone is proclaiming that America is losing its luster, that she is not what she used to be, that everything is looking glum, she goes and does something like this....and totally redeems herself! First she votes in Kristi Yamaguchi as the champion of Dancing with the Stars. Though she is not as popular as Jason Taylor, doesn't quite have the personality, or the charm, as the NFL superstar, America still sees that she is the better dancer. Americans followed their moral conscience to vote for the superior talent instead of just making it a popularity contest.

Next, American votes for David Cook to be the new American Idol instead of teenage heart throb David Archuleta. The latter David has the better voice, is more talented vocally, and has the eyes to melt any 14 year old girl in America, but America saw that he doesn't have "it". He can't handle the media. He laughs like a little girl when he is interviewed. He only sings one genre: love ballads. David Cook is mature, confident yet gracious, and even more importantly, creative. He will make his own, unique album like no one else in America. I will buy his CD. I wouldn't have bought Archuleta's. David Cook may not be easy on the eyes, but he still has "it". America comes through, again.

Lastly, I will sleep well tonight, after having witnessed an incredible thing tonight on TV. In the midst of trials and tribulations with natural disasters in China and Myanmar, as gas prices reach $4/gallon, and as distasteful words are constantly shared between presidential candidates, a glimmer of hope was found. For one small moment on television, the world was right. All the problems of the world faded away. Meredith Grey figured out her problems. She dealt with them and then she went to the man she loved. Derek and Meredith kissed!! When the writers of Grey's Anatomy could have left us hanging in this season finale like they have the previous 3 seasons, they didn't. They realized that America couldn't handle that right now. We needed something. We needed to be able to believe in love again. We needed to see that there is still good in the world. And they gave that to us.

Thank you, America, for restoring hope back into the world. There ain't no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA.

Oh, what's that? You want my opinion?...

2008-05-19T17:23:00.008-04:00

Freebirds > Qdoba > Chipotle

Billy Gillispie > Mark Turgeon

Manchester United > Chelsea

Coca Cola > Pepsi

Adidas > Nike

Blogging > Facebook

Football (soccer) > Football (American)

Hillary > Obama > Edwards

SEC > Big XII

Pistons > Celtics

Spurs > Mavericks

Air Force > Army > Navy

Grey's Anatomy > House

Boys > Girls*

Cats > Dogs

Why, Justin, Why > Elisabeth's Explanations

Mac > PC

Iron Man > Spiderman > Batman > Superman

Chocolate > Vanilla

Briefs > Boxers**

Wal-Mart > Target

Thanksgiving > Christmas

Spirit of Aggieland > everything

*at sports.
**if I were a guy.

You should see the other guy...

2008-05-17T13:18:00.005-04:00

Well I am going to go ahead and let the cat out of the bag. Why? Because I don't feel like I have anything to hide. Nothing to be embarrassed of here. I broke my nose three times throughout my athletic career: when I was twelve in a soccer game, when I was a senior in high school (by Shannon Novosell...the 7 foot freak that played for Lexington Catholic who elbowed me when going up for a rebound in basketball), and the final time being this past soccer season during the warm up (yes, warm up) against Texas Tech (we were scrimmaging and our goalie punted it and it was coming towards me and I was sitting there waiting for it, preparing to take it down with my chest, when Micah Stephens pushed me last second in the back and the ball hit me straight in the face). There were tears all three times. Yet, no blood. But the damage was still done, and I have been living with a crooked nose for 11 years.

Now that my illustrious soccer career is complete and I am about to head out to a whole new world of medicine (which I can only imagine to be identical to Grey's Anatomy, which means if I am going to get McDreamy, I gotta bring my A game), my parents and I decided it was the perfect time to get my nose fixed. So this past Tuesday I got it done. It was quite an odd sensation waking up in the middle of surgery, feeling them pounding away at my nose, just like in the movies. But I was enjoying it too much to say anything, so I laid there with my eyes closed and just cherished the moment. But the awkward part came when I had to decide how long it was appropriate to pretend like I was still drugged up and eventually come to. Apparently I did it well because I heard the doctor tell my mother afterwards that "everything went well, she slept right through it all!".

So this week I've been laying low, watching movies, taking insane amounts of pills, sleeping a ton, throwing up, and facebooking an embarrassing amount of my life away. I can't talk well because my face is still numb, so I've ignored most calls. Text if you want to contact me. :)

But just for your entertainment, I will show a picture of what I look like. This was taken a few days ago, and the swelling and bruising have both gone down a bit. But feel free to laugh. I would too if it were physically possible. Good thing is, you shouldn't even be able to tell a difference when you see me next because it's so subtle, but I will have my straight nose back. Yay!

Goodbye Texas. Howdy Kentucky.

2008-05-11T18:54:00.004-04:00

It's official. I'm a college graduate (or as we Aggies like to say, a former student). I am no longer a resident of the great state of Texas. I walked Friday morning, packed up the U-Haul, made one last stop at Layne's and Sweet Eugenes, blared the Aggie War Hymn as I rolled out of Aggieland, and made the 1000 mile trek to Lexington, Kentucky with my mom in the trusty Camry and my dad driving the macho, manly truck.

To be honest, I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it was to leave. During the early stages of the packing process last week, I broke down three times and cried my eyes out, as I found old love letters, sifted through 3 years of tests and papers (for some reason I found it very sentimental - I had somehow forgotten about that 74 I got on a physics test or the 76 on an organic chemistry test), and thought of all the great times I had as an Aggie. But when the clock finally struck graduation day, my tear ducts were dry as could be. I credit that to the Man Upstairs.

The trip home was exactly what I had hoped for: 17 hours of bonding time with my mama. We laughed our back sides off joking around, had lots of heart-to-heart talks, jammed to some oldies music, and got ourselves into trouble. Like the time I was driving and my mom was in the passenger seat. My dad had been leading us in the Penske truck for a few hours and we had finally caught up after making a pit stop, so I sped up to pass him and my mama started making kissy faces and smashed her lips up against the window, only to find out as we passed that it was not my dad, just some other random guy driving another Penske truck. I quickly sped off to save my mama from even more embarrassment.

Or when we stopped outside of Nashville to fill up with gas for the last time. As we were pulling back on to the interstate, my dad cut off a middle-aged woman in an Escalade and she was just about fit to be tied. She got right up on my dad's tail, was honking her brains out, then to cap things off, gaive a strong, firm flick off, leaving the bird up for at least 15 seconds as she sped on by. To make things even better, my dad was completely oblivious and did not even know that happened til we got home and I brought it up.

Just as I crossed the Kentucky border we hit construction. I luckily got caught between two cars that wanted to go over the speed limit, so I willingly followed their lead, but the white van behind me was sitting close to my tail. I could tell he wanted to get by me but he was stuck in the one lane. When it finally opened up to two lanes, he promptly got in the other lane and sped up. I curiously looked over just to get a look at the guy, and I found two middle-aged men throwing up the t.u. "hook 'em" sign. I gave an absolutely disgusted look (the best I could think of on the spot) and gave a strong "gig 'em" right back to them. They laughed, we exchanged smiles, and they sped off. I love being an Aggie. My mom then started singing the "Spirit of Aggieland" at the top of her lungs. I joined in, and we put on a performance of a lifetime.

I don't think it has hit me that I am in Kentucky for good. I still feel like I am just on vacation. But a few prescriptions of anti-depressants and staying busy at work (researching prostate cancer all summer) will hopefully make the transition easier. Although the weather (50 and raining) isn't helping at all.

Debbie Downer

2008-05-07T12:21:00.005-04:00

Graduating from college is very anticlimactic when you know that the four hardest years of your educational career are looming. So while my friends are off celebrating their last finals ever, the only thing I can celebrate is the end of having a life and getting away with procrastinating for the last 5 years of my life.

At least I'm putting off entering the real world until I'm 27. :)

The List

2008-05-04T16:24:00.007-04:00

I have concocted a list of things I would like to do before leaving the great city of College Station this coming Friday. I have 115 hours remaining in Texas, and I plan on going out in style. I fully plan on doing each of these, although finals and packing may get in the way. As you will see, there is a common theme throughout my list: food. I have my priorities straight, I know.

Take a late night walk through campus, soaking in the atmosphere of Aggieland, reminiscing about memories, and experiencing what it feels like to be an Aggie student one last time.
Enjoy a delicious slice of Antonio's pizza at 2am.
Study in the MSC Flag Room and listen to a random person play their heart out on the piano.
Get one last sip of Layne's Dr. Pepper (with no ice).
Pond hop.
Catch a meal at Sbisa...never been there.
Photograph A&M's campus, specifically the Bonfire Memorial.
Finally make all those CDs I promised my friends.
Grab a blueberry donut and java shake from Sweet Eugenes.
Northgate.
Taste true Texas bbq and sweet tea one last time.
Buy a Freebirds t-shirt.
Pull an all-nighter with friends, just hanging out.
Write letters to all those who touched me while in Aggieland.
Finally go to The Tap for piano bar on Wednesday night.
Finally go to Cafe Eccel.
Step on the Fightin' Texas Aggie soccer field one last time.
Hug all my friends goodbye.
Cry a lot -- ok this isn't on my list of things to do, but I know it will happen...I've already broken down twice.

She's just not that into you

2008-04-28T22:58:00.009-04:00

This past weekend I experienced a first in my 23 years of existence: two dates with two different guys in two days. Now I know what you're thinking: "but you're so hot and athletic and smart and funny, why is every guy not falling at your feet?" I know. Crazy, eh? But that's just not the case. I do not get wooed by guys very often. In fact, I was on a year-long dry spell of dating up until this past month. But that is besides the point. And I don't know why I just felt like sharing that with the world, but it's out there now. Anyway, apparently I'm giving off an "I'm available" vibe right now, or as one friend believes, I am just now expressing that gene. Whatever the case, I am confused as to why this all had to happen when I am moving to KY in a week and a half.

But I learned a lot in the past week because of these dates. It was a semi-stressful weekend, full of multiple awkward and "did that just happen?" moments. But you live and you learn and you eventually laugh.

My personal notes on the events:

Don't spend 10 hours making a girl an origami box to ask her out on a first date. It freaks her out. Too much effort. Too little mystery left.
On a first date, do not take a girl out to the nicest place in town for dinner and drop $200. It makes her feel like she owes you something afterwards.
When you take a girl home on the first date, don't expect to go inside with her when you drop her off. And if you do happen weasel your way in, do not go in, walk straight into her room, and lay on her bed. Sends the wrong signals.
Foot scratches are a no-go. Feet are flat out a no-fly zone. And when she pushes you away, don't try again 30 minutes later.
Don't show up on a first date with a bottle of wine and a CD for the girl. Overdoing it.
When a girl says that she's tired and continues to yawn, making the obnoxious yawning sound as she does it, take the hint that she wants the date to end.
When a girl ignores your emails and phone calls, don't randomly show up on her doorstep in full-out biking gear and ask her to join you.

My question is: How do I end it with someone I've only gone on one date with? Is the silent treatment acceptable?

Auntie EJ

2008-04-27T02:17:00.005-04:00

I got the call tonight at 12:45am CST that my niece was born! Matthew and Elizabeth are the proud new parents of a 6 lb 8 oz baby girl: Mary Beth Jones. And I am now ready to be the most rockin aunt that has ever lived. I haven't even met her and I already love her!

Reasons why I will be a cool aunt:

1. She is partially named after me, so she will automatically think I'm cool if her parents liked me enough to make me her namesake. Although I am still confused as to why they are spelling her name with a "z" when I spell mine with an "s".

2. I am young and hip. While many aunts are older and mature, I am still a spring chicken and a spaz. It also helps that I do not have a husband or family of my own, so I can completely spoil her and treat her as if she's my kid (until she does something bad, and I can pass off the punishment to her parents, that way she still loves me).

3. I will teach her the proper technique to kick a soccer ball, shoot a jump shot, and ride a bicycle, all before the age of three. Guarantee it.

4. I will buy her the trendy clothes and accessories that parents do not buy their kids because they don't want to teach them frivolous spending.

5. I have the capabilities of going from super cool athletic aunt to girly, proper aunt. I can throw a pretty legit tea party and can be a star actress when we play dress up and house. This is what gives me the edge over Uncle Andrew.

All in all, I am glad that they had a baby girl so that I could be an aunt, and not an uncle. :)

Freedom

2008-04-24T20:58:00.003-04:00

To my astonishment today I realized that I am basically done with college. I was so preoccupied with my tests this week that I wasn't even thinking about my finals schedule. But as I turned in my biochemistry exam this afternoon and headed home, it hit me that I only have one final and one paper due in the next two weeks. Two of my other classes' finals are optional, and since I already have A's, there's no point in taking them (I'm not that much of an overachiever). And I've already written the paper that is due. And my one final is in my cake-walk psychology class. I'm done. Hullabaflippinloo. I am free...well until August 4th when my life becomes consumed with medical school. Oh, and I am working full time in a research lab this summer. So, maybe I'm not that free. Dangit, I just burst my own bubble.

But more importantly, what am I going to do with my last two weeks in College Station? Well of course I have to think about the whole moving thing. I graduate two weeks from tomorrow and leave that day to go back to Lex-Vegas. So the packing process is looming...but I'll put that off for a few days. I have more exciting things to do this weekend.

Time to hang out with my friends. Go to Sweet Eugene's to pleasure read and make fun of everyone else that is studying for finals. Go to the rec to play racquetball and climb. Sleep in. Go on bike rides. Do whatever my little heart desires.

14 more days in Aggieland. Living it up. Soaking it in. Loving life.

Motherly Advice

2008-04-12T09:47:00.004-04:00

Before my date, my mom asked me what we were going to be doing. I said we were going iceskating and then going to get some coffee, which of course I think is going to be a lot of fun. She immediately took a serious tone and said:

"Remember one thing Elisabeth, tonight you are not an athlete, you are a date."

What?!

For the Love of the Game

2008-04-09T16:25:00.007-04:00

This spring I have been playing on two athletic teams: an intramural basketball team and a city league soccer team. Originally, I did it to keep in shape, but I have quickly realized that playing only twice a week does not exactly keep my heart and lungs at the strength they had been back in the glory days of college athletics. But that is beside the point now. I have learned so much by being part of these teams, with the biggest lesson being that sports are actually fun! It's been a blast being able to be a normal student and experience these things in my last semester.

For so long, soccer ran my life. It was a job for me. Of course I cherish my time as a college athlete and I would not trade it for the world, but playing soccer every day became so monotonous. I no longer saw the beauty and joy of the sport. But I am now playing on a Division 5 (formerly D4 team that got demoted because we were getting killed every week) city league team. I got asked by my biochemistry professor, Jerry, to join his team because they were desperate for some talent. At first I felt almost obligated to do it, since he was my professor and he wanted me to play so badly; but after my first time out on that field, playing with other adults who were doing it just for the love of the game, not because they wanted to impress the fans or get a scholarship, I was hooked. (Plus, I must say, I was impressed by Jerry's skills. Who would think a biochemist would be athletic too?) We lost the first 6 games I played. We didn't score a goal until the 4th game of the season. And did we care? Absolutely not. We were laughing and having a great time, despite the embarrassing losses. It's a beautiful sight, my friends, to see people trying hard, getting stuck in, enjoying the competition, but not caring about the outcome of the game.

Now the other team I've been playing on is a bit more competitive. The soccer seniors formed a basketball team and signed up for the A league, even though half the team hadn't even played high school ball. We were division 1 athletes and we had Ashlee Pistorius (Miss Illinois basketball and soccer, for those who care about titles)...who could stop us? We rolled through the regular season. 3-0. Every game ended early due to the slaughter rule. We weren't the best shooters out on the court, but man we were scrappy defenders. The post-season tournament started last week, where we played Kappa Delta who was 0-3. Sorority girls in A league? Seriously? They only had 4 players for the first 10 minutes of the game. Did that stop us from playing with 5? HA! You kidding me? Once they got their fifth player, we picked up the intensity even more and pressed them the entire second half. They literally couldn't get the ball over half court. They all had little attitudes, so that made us want to pound them even more. Plus, we knew the competition in the next couple of weeks would pick up, so we wanted to get some good practice in. Well apparently after the game, the girls went back to their sorority house and complained about how we were all bitches and they decided to email our soccer coach to complain about it. Our assistant coach Lori Stephenson got an email the following day saying how disappointed they were that we claim to be Aggies because we are the antithesis of good Aggies. We were rude, overly competitive, and showed no class. They said they will never again attend an A&M soccer game. Oh well. Like sorority chicks really came to our games anyway. Their loss.

Last night was the semi-finals of the tournament. We showed up to find a team of 8 girls who were all decked out in basketball gear, swishing three pointers left and right, and actually organized in their warm up. While on the other side of the court, we were in soccer shorts, soccer socks, and wife-beaters with "Scrubs" spray painted on the front. I quickly noted that we were in for a tough game. The game started out in our favor, as we quickly went up 6-0. But that lead vanished quickly with some questionable fouls called and free throws made. We started off in man defense, but to change things up and hopefully throw them off, we decided to sit back in a 2-3 zone. BAD decision. The girls made 6 three pointers in the first half. We were down by 12 at one point. We started to cut the lead down, but then got our spirit knocked out of us when they made a mid-court 3 pointer at the halftime buzzer to put them back up by 11.

At halftime we made some adjustments, deciding to go back to man-to-man defense, changed up the substitute pattern, leaving me and Ashlee in while everyone else rotated, and talked the normal basketball talk: "We have to box out! Use that booty your mama gave you", or "Guys, we are the soccer team. We don't lose to nobodies. Pick it up!!" I had to be reminded by one teammate that it was ok for me to smile. But I was in the zone. The game face was on. I was ready to claw and scrape back into this game. Well that's what we did. We slowly started to put a dent in their lead, which was difficult to do because these girls actually ran plays and knew what they were doing. They had all played high school ball together. One time Mel held up two fingers while dribbling the ball down the court, just so the other team would think we had a plan, but it didn't work because we all just stopped and started to laugh, because we honestly don't have one set play. With 10 minutes to go we were still down by 5. It was a close game. The refs were calling everything the other way. Ashlee then gets a steal and dribbles the length of the court, gets fouled, and makes 2 free throws. We have a big defensive stop next time down the court and then Amy hits a massive 3-pointer to tie the game! The other team is forced to call a time out. We are going nuts. I was so into the game that I thought I was going to throw up at one point (I think it was a combination of being out of shape, eating 4 cupcakes before the game, and nerves). We ended up taking the lead off big lay ups by Ashlee, Kelly, and me. The last 2.5 minutes we were holding the ball, watching the clock run down. They were forced to send us to the free throw line, where we hit every shot (unlike a certain Memphis team who choked down the stretch). We ended up winning by 4 points. I felt like I had won the national championship.

Our confidence was high leaving that game. We were talking big, saying no one could beat us if we played like we did in the second half. But as soon as we turned the corner as we were leaving and saw who we are playing in the championship game on Sunday, our hearts sunk. Here is this team with Nike A&M shoes, shorts, and jerseys. They have a few black girls and a lot of height. Apparently they are the club team for A&M. Our hopes are doomed. I don't think a club team should be able to play intramural sports. That's not fair. It would be like the soccer girls playing intramural soccer. What's the fun in that? But don't kid yourself, we will show up ready to fight. They may be better players, but if we play with the heart that we did last night, we may just have a shot. But then again, it's not about winning. It's about the memories. We are having a great time, and I wouldn't want to step on that basketball court on Sunday with anyone else but the girls that I have fought and battled with on the soccer field for the past 3 years of my life.

EJ Explains the Secret of Dating

2008-04-07T16:00:00.009-04:00

You have to appreciate a good, old-fashioned date offer. Most guys these days just wanna "hang out" with a girl until it gets kind of serious and eventually have a DTR. They try to skirt around the issue of feelings. More so, want to avoid having to spend money on a date or dressing up to impress the girl.

So when I hear a, "Hey Elisabeth, I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me this weekend? I think you are a cool girl and I would love to get to know you more," you just have to applaud that. What a breath of fresh air! It's classy. You are giving the girl a 5 day period to prepare herself for the date, whether that means going to get a new outfit, a haircut, a tan, or her nails painted. It shows you have put thought into it, planned time out of your weekend, and really do care to spend time the girl, instead of a last second, desperation date where you call and are like, "hey girl, I'm not doing anything tonight, ya wanna chill?" Not exactly romantic.

If only more guys would be old-fashioned, I think they could get more dates. Girls love charm. What girl does not like to be wined and dined? It makes you feel special. It gives you something to look forward to. I recently learned in one of my classes that dating is one of the most healthy things you can do as a young adult. The reason? It gives you an opportunity to dress up, making you confident in your appearance, and most importantly, you spend a few hours talking about yourself...your interests, your strengths, etc. So when you leave a date, you have to feel good because you have just spent the evening talking yourself up.

So guys, step up the plate. Man up. I know you can do it. It's been done before. It was done last night to me. Asking a girl out does not mean you want to be the father of her children. It simply means you enjoy her company and would love to get to know her more. It's not a marriage proposal. It's a date. =)