Finally some R&R

2 days of back to back big assignments was finally over today (seemed like forever!).

I had a Board Review exam on Monday and did really well on that, then prepped for a Path 2 quiz which I was very nervous about going into it. Ended up doing good on it as well, so overall, it's been a good week!

So, I treated myself to a lil R&R this evening by going on a Night Dive. Got an email last night about it and was like… Yep, I'm doing it! We went to a site called STENAPA Reef and it was amazing! I've never done a night dive before and had NO idea what to expect, but I had fun. Saw a Barracuda that was as long as my whole body, a couple turtles that could eat me for an appetizer for dinner, over 25 Sting Rays, lobsters, awesome coral, at least 5 lion fish (1 was the biggest I've ever seen) and much, much more!

Was a good, relaxing night and now I gotta try to study a little *crosses fingers*!

 

 

Stuff Med Students Say

I am guilty of at least 25 of these and that number will definitely go up once I hit rotations! haha! This is great!!!

 

Christmas, Friends, Travel and The Like

Well, it's been a while since I blogged last. Had a full months break from school through Christmas and just finished up the first week back for my last semester (on the island)!!! I am sooo excited to get this behind me and be home for a while before starting clinicals!

Break was really good! Started it off with vacation with my family and then was home for almost all the rest of it. Had a wonderful Christmas and was able to hang out with my sis and bro-in-law for almost a week which was great! Went duck hunting with my bro-in-law and shot my first duck ever! So much fun! Enjoyed getting together with friends, both old and new! So many people I haven't seen in a while and was great catching up with them!

Sad part of it was saying goodbye to 2 of my best friends for the past 2 years, Jeremy and Bridget. Jeremy got a new job in Mississippi and him and Bridget moved down there right after I got home from school, so I was only able to see them for one day before they left. :( You can still come back Mississippi!!!!! ;)

The end of my break consisted of one of the highlights and then contained the low-lights of my vacation. My dad got me tickets to go to the Cotton Bowl where Arkansas whoooooped up on the Big 12 Kansas State! WOO PIG! Unfortunately, I picked up some baaaaaad food poisoning that afternoon of the game, so about halfway thru it, I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wished. Drove home the next day still feeling queazy, but made it home. The following day was when I was SUPPOSED to leave to head back to school, with a stop in Dallas to spend the night before finishing the journey the following morning. Welllllll, American Airlines had other plans for me and decided it wouldn't be a big deal if they cancelled my flight (which coincidentally was the last flight) from Fort Smith to Dallas about an hour and a half before I was supposed to leave. Therefore, my connection that left at 5:45am from Dallas would be missed and the trickle down effect continued all the way thru to Statia. So, leaving at 10:45 the next day from Fort Smith didn't put me into St. Maarten til 9 o'clock, just in time to not come even close to catching the last flight to Statia. So, yay for me..I get to spend a night in St. Maarten and fly standby for the whole day the following day because missing my flight to Statia meant there were no seats open until 24 hours later. Ughhhh! Finally made it to Statia and went straight to school to avoid missing any more classes than I already did. Trust me... American will be receiving a bill for my hotel room and expenses for their flight cancellation. They will regret doing it for sure!

Other than that, I'm just glad to be back for my last semester. It was hard leaving home, but this semester was the easiest to leave because I knew that in just 3 short months, I would be getting on a plane, leaving this island FOR GOOD! I get to go home to my friends and family for the summer while I study for my first Board exam. Can't wait for that day to come... I've actually already started a countdown: 92 days! I can do this!!!

Here are a few pics from my break to share:

Busch Stadium... Home of the WORLD CHAMPION Cardinals!!! 

My sis and bro-in-law in front of Busch Stadium with Stan Musial. 

My Christmas present. Ruger 10/22 with scope. Love this thing! :)

This is sad, but the highlight of one of my days over break was getting First Aid and DIT workbooks spiral bound at FedEx Office! haha! Those will be my life for the next 6 months! 

Day after Christmas, driving with the Top Down! Thanks to Marley for reminding me I could do such a thing... I've been away from my baby for too long when I forget these things! haha

Cowboy's stadium for the Cotton Bowl! Woo Pig Sooie!

D.J. Williams, former Razorback and current TE for the Packers, autographing my ticket for the game! :)

COTTON BOWL CHAMPS! WOO PIG!

Trophy time! 

Next year... the Silver ball on the trophy will be replaced with a crystal ball; the BCS National Championship! GO HOGS!

And I can't leave you without this little gem from Jerry Jones. Out at the pep rally for the Hogs before the game, Jerry got up on stage to talk about the game. Here is a small clip that I recorded with my phone. 

"Nothin gets me excited and makes me feel, as you can imagine, to have these Pigs playing in this place... This is a dream, we talked about it so many times. Wouldn't it be something, if we could build a great stadium and have the Arkansas Razorbacks come in here and kick people's ass???" ~Jerry Jones

Block 3 done, shelf exams to come!

WHEW!!!! That was a LONGGGGGGG week! Just finished my Block 3 exams yesterday and they went GREAT! :) I studied so hard for block 3 that I almost lost my mind! But I did really well on all 3 exams and now I just have to hold it together for the shelf exams (Friday and Tuesday) then I'm getting my butt on a plane and GOING HOME!!!

Just to prove how tired I was after these exams, I fell asleep last night at 8:30 after watching the newest episode of Dexter. Wasn't really planning on going to bed, just a little nap, but I didn't wake up til 4:30 in the morning. Woke up and watched a few TV episodes I have downloaded from before blocks and then went back to bed. Didn't wake up until noon! WHEW! Slept for 12 hours and I feel great now!

Just over 5 days until I get on a plane to St. Maarten and I'll be home the following day!!!! (7 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes to be exact)

 

Reason why you go to the Doctor and not WebMD or google when you are sick...

 

 

 

32 days...

I'm still alive! It's been a while since I have updated, but its been a crazy semester!

Just had exams this week, so I have a little down time to take a breath before the end of the semester chugs along and ramps up the heat!

Not a whole lot has happened this past month... except for the CARDINALS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!! WOO HOO!! Pretty awesome! My studying suffered a lil that weekend because if I weren't home watching the 2 games (5 and 7) of the Series, I was keeping up to date on my iPad while doing a little studying! But I was representing the Cards down here in Statia.

I took a trip to Saba after block 1 to see some of my friends, many of which are going to be leaving the island in a few short weeks to go prep for the Step 1 and on to clinicals. Only took one pic the whole time I was there and it was at the airport when I was leaving.

Me and Nancy, one of my best friends on Saba

Had fun while I was there and got some studying done at the same time which was an added bonus! :) And then on my way back to Statia, we had a layover in St. Maarten for about 2.5 hours so I got to go to the grocery store there and get some good meat to cook... Statia meet is pretty sketchy! Been cooking Pulled Pork BBQ, Beef Stroganoff and many other things in the slow cooker this semester. My roommate is blessed to have me as his roommate! ;) haha

Other than that, nothing new here. Just trying to turn on the study engine again to gear up for finals. 32 days til I leave this rock and head home for Christmas! Gonna be a fun-fillled break for sure! Hopefully get to see my best friend from undergrad's wedding in Dallas just before the New Year, going to Indy for family Christmas and a Colts game (Go Horse!) and being lazy at home with friends! :)

I leave you with the following, self explanatory picture:

GO CARDS!