Time

Since beginning med school, my concept of time has been completely thrown out the window. Med school is weird, for instance, we have no consistent schedule from day to day like in undergrad and classes may end or begin at any point throughout the semester. My perception of time (which is really no perception at all) continues to evaporate as the days of each week all sort of blend together. Mondays feel like Fridays and last month feels like it happened about a year ago. It makes me wonder how this women we just recently read an article about in class viewed time...after a mere 122 years.

Here is an excerpt from the article, it made my morning yesterday!

In 1997, the oldest person to have ever lived died at age 122 years and 164 days.¹ Jeanne Louise Calment lived in France, took up fencing at age 85, and still rode a bicycle at 100. She did quit smoking when she was 117, reportedly because she was nearly blind and felt embarrassed asking for a light. In 1965, when she was 90 and had no living heirs (she had outlived her daughter and grandson), she entered into a legal agreement to sell her condominium apartment to lawyer Francois Raffray, who was then age 47. He agreed to pay a monthly sum, similar to a “reverse mortgage,” until she died, so that he would obtain the apartment. Unfortunately for him, she survived him, and his widow had to continue the payments. In many ways, one can view the life of Jeanne Calment as an example of “optimal aging.”

Fit to be Loved.

Meet Amanda. Her name appropriately means "fit to be loved" or "lovable". And she is just that.

She is the source of all things good.

1. Quinoa stuffed peppers and a mexican fiesta! A welcome back dinner from our beloved weekend off after pharmacology--the class I'd never wish upon a single soul.

2. Bookmarks from Turkey. She spent a year there with Campus Crusade for Christ. In the words of her insightful nephew, "She went there to tell people about Jesus. Can you believe the people there have never heard of Jesus?!?!" The baked peach was dessert from the fiesta night. De-lish.

3. Practical floatation devices. While I won't mar her good name with this crazy idea, I appreciated her
supporting my upside down lifejacket as a means of floating carelessly in Lake Lansing. Mom, Dad, and Mal and her friend Katie came to Lansing last Sunday with the boat. I was more fun than any med student should probably have...

4. Fashionable sunglasses. They are perfect, see picture at the bottom--or better yet see her in real life. Amanda is just fashionable in general...even if she's going to dissect in the cadaver lab. I secretly admire her style and wish I could be one of those people with her own style. For now, I'll stick to choosing clothes they put on mannequins. And admire hers.

5. The Bible and Straight Up Truth. I don't know if you remember, but I wrote a blog a bit ago about how I want "to learn to tell Bible stories like it's my job". Amanda constantly reminds me of this goal by doing it herself. Anytime someone needs advice, encouragement, or discipline, Amanda ever so eloquantly puts her knowledge of God's word to use. It's inspiring.

My friends here are my source of strength, encouragement and fun. I am convinced that there is no other group of people on the planet that I would want to spend the two most potentially fun deprived years of my life with. They make me love being in medical school. Thank God for that. Thank God for Amanda!

Hidden Lake Gardens

Yesterday morning a group of us took a morning field trip to Hidden Lake Gardens in Tipton, MI (Shout out to the Hunt's hometown!!) We went for a little break from school and to spend some time in nature with God and great friends without all the distractions of home, school, and the like. I woke up before dawn to make some apple crisp, it was such a good recipe, TRY IT! Overall, I was reminded how beautiful Michigan is. Here are some pictures to lure you into going yourself. It's SO wonderful. I'll be going back. And they're open year round so you can hike or snowshoe in the winter! I can't wait to see it in the fall.

Who knew there was more than one kind of hosta?

The Bonsai Garden! I want one...Some were over 50 years old!

My favorite Bonsai Tree from the Bonsai Garden

More of the Hosta Garden!



Part of the Conservatory which had 3 green houses
housing plants from Arid, Temperate, and Tropical Climates



Favorites.

Two places I love here. The Tuba Museum aka The Traveler's Club. And Horrock's Market.

This is the awesome tuba fountain on the back patio!

 This Monday after CMA a group of us went over to the Traveler's club to enjoy some delicious food and drink. We had some new first year med students and Alex (Bre's main squeeze) join us!

Here we all are enjoying one of their hundreds of options of beer from all over the world :)

 Today, Erin and I ventured to Horrock's Market and our fridge and pantry our filled with wonderful, healthy and delicious food. With it, we had crab stuffed flounder, homemade hummus!!, cooked carrots, and wine for dinner tonight.

The spice wall at Horrocks, and Erin admiring the aloe juice

 I have decided to do the unthinkable....and run a marathon. A bunch of med students are running either the half or full in Detroit this fall and I figured now is as good a time as any to do it. Mostly because of the flexibility of my schedule and even more because of the fact that I have awesome friends to train with. I imagine this is about what I'll look like...hopefully smile and all! I wish I could take credit for this picture, but it was from one of our most recent OMM lectures. How can it not make you laugh! I love it.

hahaha...ha...ha...ha...

Guacamole Hummus!

Last night a bunch of my friends and I had a litte post exam week BBQ and my contribution was a new recipe from Martha Stewarts Food magazine that I'd been wanting to try. It's super easy, the perfect excuse to invest in a food processor if you don't already have one, and it's delicious!

Simply add the following ingredients to a food processor and pulse til smooth.
- 15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed
- about 2 cups of fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 large avacado

Once it is thoroughly pulsed, add about 3 TBSP of olive oil and 1 TBSP of fresh lemon juice while the processor is on to allow it to mix evenly. Then add salt and pepper or more lemon juice to your liking.

Serve it with tortillas or pita!

Weekends.

There are a few things about med school that are, can you believe it, actually good. Please note that I am referring to med school, not to being a doctor. Those are two very different things.

One of those things is how much you appreciate a few days with no tests. Not that there's a lack of lectures to watch, but it's so relaxing to study without the added pressure of the exam at 8am the next morning. By the way, after my last post, I'm happy to report that I'm still alive, not that I thought it'd kill me, but I'm alive in the sense that I'm still on track to passing all my classes, most noteably, pharmacology. How I miss the days of homework assignments, extra credit, and attendence points to boost your grade. Pharm tests leave little room for error.

In addition to appreciating a few days of regular studying, med school has made me procrastinate in a new way. I hesitate to call it procrastination, but, I read the Bible with a new sense of anticipation and a new need for the comfort it provides. Almost everyday I think to myself, why am I doing this? (pretty lame huh?) But, I am quickly reminded that the desire to be a doctor wasn't something I picked, but that God has entrusted me with. Otherwise I'd be perfectly happy sharing God's love with people in a coffee shop or leading hiking expeditions through the rocky mountains.

Awesome friends. That's another good thing. And on that note! Erin is in the process of moving in! It's been so lonely here without Katie and I need someone to at least be around so I don't let myself refuse to do the dishes or leave my stuff all over the place. It's such a blessing to have a sister in Christ, fellow med student, future/current AF collegue, gun shooting, country music listening, sports loving friend. I think we're gonna have a good time :)

Here we are in Haiti on the back of a crazy moto!!

Tests, tests, and more tests...

One soft taco minus lettuce and a cheesy gordita crunch please. This is my brain food, more for its tastiness and less for its nutritional value, to get me through the last push of the most absurd pharmacology test. Roughly 200 antibiotic, chemotherapeutic and anti-inflammatory drugs, their mechanism of action, numerous side effects, drug to drug interactions, and contraindications all in a mere 7 days. WHY 7 DAYS?! I don't get it. And I need to vent. I thought the "weeding process" was over. We're all gonna be doctors, so why the torture?? And I thought microbiology was bad?! If you read this between now and 8am tomorrow, please say a prayer for me and 500 of my closest friends taking our exam, Thanks! (And the one we have on Thursday and the one on Friday, too!)

...nobody tells you how many tests there are going to be in medical school. This is my warning to anyone and everyone headed in this direction. Start mentally preparing now. Now that it's too late to turn back, I'm banking on that it'll be worth it someday down the road.

**Disclaimer: Most of the things mentioned in the blog do not reflect a well functioning, well rested mind. I know why I am here in med school and glad that I am....even maybe a little thankful...I think feeling this way is part of the process though. Now I can check it off the list.