Graduation

Tomorrow is graduation! I'll be a doctor. For real. Whoa!

I HAVE A CONTRACT!!

powerful and personal

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.

--Psalm 62:11-12--

So things are moving right along. After a couple of weeks of "independent study" and a week road-tripping in Florida, now its really finishing up medical school--just some workshops and lectures in Columbia this week and next and then nothing til graduation MAY 11!

In the meantime I will be getting the rest of my life in order! Big task, I know :) First thing...finding a new place to live. Tomorrow I start looking for a house to buy. Kinda scary! I hate having to make grown-up decisions. But...I am super excited about having a place to decorate! Fun for me! I'll keep you guys updated on how it goes.

My Class on Match Day

It's official!

Pediatrics in Greenville it is!

Jen (matched to peds in G'ville), Amanda (matched to Med-Peds in G'ville), Tabetha (matched to surgery in Seattle), and me at the Match Day festivities!

Match Week....drum roll please!

So I finally regained access to my blog. I've had trouble signing in since January and eventually it just worked! That's why it's been so long since I've updated for those that have wondered. Well, this is an important week for all 4th year medical students nationwide--Match Week. Today we found out IF we matched in a residency program (I did, by the way....yay!). Tomorrow is the "Scramble" for all those who didn't match--a day where programs try to fill their remaining residency positions and med students "scramble" to get them. Then on Thursday at noon we all find out WHERE we matched. At USC everyone gathers with their family in an auditorium, and we each go up one by one and get an envelope from the Dean. You can then choose to open it and read it aloud to everyone or take it back to your seat. Of course peer pressure, if nothing else, means almost everyone reads it on stage in front of the entire audience. Yikes! Hopefully, it will be a fun day and Thursday night will be a celebration! Til then...just trying to take care of some errands and things around the house and not think about Thursday too much!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Today is December 18th...and it is 76 degrees outside! "Inconceivable!" I have to say this makes me a little nervous about the future of the country. I see polar ice caps melting and the entire East Coast being covered in water. (Sounds like the plot to half of all natural disaster films!) Seriously. I have on shorts and a t-shirt and Christmas day is a week away.

Well, 2 more interviews later (MCG and Greenville--both great) it is now time for an official Christmas break. These next 2 weeks will be full of me trying to catch up on all the stuff I've been putting off in the last 5 months. Oh my! But first will be finishing up all the thank you notes to my interviewers. I can't quite say these notes are the bane of my existence like some people I know, but they are pretty un-fun to do. At least I can listen to Christmas music while I write them!

Speaking of Christmas music ;) I went with some friends to the Andrew Peterson Christmas concert on Friday night and it was WONDERFUL! If you don't have his Behold the Lamb of God CD you should definitely pick it up. In addition to some really great music by some of my favorite artists, it was such a good reminder of what all the hoop-la should be about. With picking out gifts and stressing over which party to go to and arguing over who's going to spend which holiday meal where, it's amazing how even for Christians, Christ gets so lost. I'm praying that doesn't happen for me this year...or for you!

OK...so it's been a while. I am currently in Annapolis with Page taking a little mini-vacation in the midst of the interview process. Quite fun! She's keeping me busy this weekend but since I haven't done much in the last few months I'm excited about it. And Annapolis is such a cute place, especially with all the Christmas decorations around. I went downtown this afternoon and enjoyed a peppermint mocha with a great view of the marina. Tonight we had dinner and caught up. Tomorrow there is a concert and a fancy Christmas party downtown. Saturday it's watching football and decorating then going swing dancing with some of Page's friends. Sunday it'll be on to Norfolk, which should also be fun.

Louisville was good. The peds program put us applicants up in the Brown Hotel. (It's the hotel the movie "Elizabethtown" was filmed in if you remember) It was definitely the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. It made the Holiday Inn I stayed in the next night pale in comparison. We'll see how the bed and breakfast in Norfolk compares! Maybe at the end I'll submit some hotel reviews in addition to my rank list. :)

Interview schedule

A couple of people have asked me when my interviews were scheduled so I thought I'd just post them on here so everyone would know where I am going (and when I won't be at home so you can rob me if you want :) )

Nov. 9 Columbia, SC

Nov. 21 Charlotte, NC

Nov. 28 Louisville, KY

Nov. 29-Dec. 3 Annapolis, MD (no interview...just visiting Page!)

Dec. 4 Norfolk, VA

Dec. 7 MCG/Augusta, GA

Dec. 13 Greenville, SC

Jan. 3 UAB/Birmingham, AL

Jan. 5 Wake Forest/Winston-Salem, NC

Jan. 5-7 Lake Junalusca, NC (MCO retreat)

Jan. 11 ECU/Greenville, NC

Jan. 17 UVA/Charlottesville, VA

P.S. Please don't rob me! Besides, if you tried my viscious dog would tear you limb from limb

For all of you who were praying for my boards several weeks ago just thought I'd let you know that I passed. I actually scored almost the same as I did on the first part of them a year ago (which is good...the goal was just not to do much worse). So thanks for your prayers. Also I have 9 interviews set up so far out of the 11 places I applied. Man it's going to be a busy couple of months starting mid-November!

So I finally did it...I have now applied to residency--11 programs in the Southeast:

Greenville, Columbia, MCG, Wake Forest, Charlotte, ECU, Vanderbilt, UAB,

UVA, Norfolk, Louisville.

Now I'll just wait for the interview offers to roll in :) November, December, and January will be an exciting time. I think it'll be fun to travel and check out these programs (at least for a little while...I hear it gets old by the end). I am excited about it. This month on the peds wards is definitely confirming my choice of specialty. I am loving it! I do dislike having to take overnight call again, but I only have 2 nights left and then there will be no more until July! Yay! Well off to bed...on call tomorrow so gotta get some sleep while I can.

Well, I finished my newborn nursery rotation, step 2 of boards, and am now on to my Pediatric Acting Internship. This month I get to pretend to be an intern in the Children's Hospital at Greenville Memorial. I think it's going to be a really fun month. All the residents and attending physicians are wonderful. It is a little nerve racking only because it's like a big audition for the residency program here (which is great and one that I am seriously interested in being a part of next year). This week I also have to finish up my residency application. Most of it is complete except for the personal statement. It's so hard for me to try to make myself sound great when I know all my weaknesses! Unfortunately mine will not sound quite as good as this one Tabetha found online (the ultimate admission essay ). It's hilarious! But nevertheless, I have to turn in something so I'm off to work on my essay and listen to a little Michael Buble'.

P.S. This is my college roommate and wonderful friend Kristi's sweet new baby--Meredith Annette. Isn't she gorgeous?!!

So I have started a new rotation this week--Newborn Nursery. I spend 4 hours every morning checking over the little ones and talking with new moms. The babies are so sweet! I only work half-days so in the afternoons I am studying for Step 2 of boards. I'm taking it on Sept 19th, which is fast approaching, and I have so much more to remind myself of before it gets here! Better get to it...

(by the way, I think every nursery in the country must use those same pink and blue stripped blankets!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEATHER!

(my sis with her new hubby Heath)

Oh my gosh...my little sister is a WIFE! It's a little weird, though I have to admit it won't be that different b/c Heather and Heath already spent every possible moment together for the last 5 years. The wedding went very well. Two months was not a lot of time to plan but we all pulled it off. Actually the ceremony was beautiful and very Christ-centered. After the initial look of dead fear on her face when the doors opened wore off, Heather cried through the entire thing...it was sweet. :) She looked beautiful. I was responsible for decorating the church and fellowship hall for the reception and it all looked quite nice I have to say :) (Thanks Martha Stewart...I still love your ideas even if you're an ex-con!) All the family they wanted there came including both my sister's grandmothers and Heather's dad all the way from Delaware at the last minute (though my mom actually walked her down the aisle and gave her away). We could only all praise the Lord for letting everything fall into place so well. Now the new Mr. and Mrs. McCall are on their way to Guatemala for their honeymoon (they always have to be just a little different from most people). I'll post some pictures of the day when I get them.

So I haven't posted in a while because things have been kinda busy. My little sister is getting married next weekend and I have been doing a lot of wedding stuff--planning, shower throwing, attending showers, keeping my mom and sister from killing each other, more planning---you know, the normal stuff :) I also started an ER rotation which has been fun because I am spending most of my time seeing kids in the pediatric emergency center. However, the shifts are 12 hours long and so far I've been there til at least 10 each night. I have to work all weekend too :( ...But then I get 6 straight days off (to do more wedding stuff). So basically, I'll be busy up to my eyeballs until next Sunday. Then I will take a much needed break. Looking so forward to that!!

"In this world where men forget us, change their attitude toward us at their private interests dictate, and revise their opinion of us for the slightest cause, is it not a source of wonderous strength to know that the God with whom we have to do changes not?...Today, this moment, He feels toward His creatures...exactly as He did when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world...His attitude toward sin is now the same as it was when He drove the sinful man from the eastward garden, and His attitude toward the sinner the same as when He stretched forth His hands and cried, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'"

--A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy--

So the last few weeks have been packed full of stuff. Washington was GREAT as evidenced by the pictures here. Tabetha, Jen, Naomi, Amanda, and I had so much fun. I even didn't mind camping after all! :) We spent 4 nights camping in a very "cozy" tent and exploring various locations in the Olympic National Park--snow capped mountains, the rainforest, gorgeous waterfalls, and the coastline. We hiked all over the place. One day we did a 9.3 mile hike during the day and even a little more along the beach in the evening. That's a lot for me! We also spent a day exploring Victoria, British Columbia which is a beautiful city with lots of pretty gardens. Then we spent a night with Tab's aunt and uncle in Seattle and got to tour the city a little--the Space Needle (of course), Pike's Place Fish Market, and the original Starbucks. The last week we chilled at Tab's place on Lake Chelan. There we got incredible views of the Cascades and the 3rd deepest lake in the US right out of our window every morning. I got to catch up on my reading for fun and to relax before starting 4th year. Now it's back to the real world. I took Part A of my second step of medical boards yesterday and am on my senior surgery rotation right now. Man, I miss vacation. :) P.S. Check out a Jen and Tabetha's blogs to the right for more pictures if you want.

Lake Chelan at sunset...anyone wanna go back with me?

Starfish and sea anemones we found hiking on the beach...neat, huh?!

View from the Hale front porch in Lake Chelan, WA

Naomi, Tabetha, Jen, Amanda, and I on top of the Space Needle in Seattle

See how much fun I'm having camping :)

At Hurricane Ridge--look at the incredible view behind us.

Naomi, Tab, Jen, and I on the ferry...man, those things get windy!

A small miracle

A small miracle occurred today. I went to visit my 81 year old grandmother (that's her in the picture) and then she took my mom, sister, and me to dinner. Now that sounds like an ordinary thing, but if you've been around me in the last year much you'd know that is a VERY big deal. My grandma is suffering from dementia, and in the past year or 2 has said some things that have caused a lot of family tension to the point that today was the first time my mom has seen or talked to her mother in a year. There was no big discussion or kiss-and-make-up talk but we all managed to make it through without any arguments or hurtful things being said and even managed a few laughs. I left ecstatic, thanking the Lord for the little moments of grace He gives us. Now I don't know how much of an effect today will have on my mom and grandmother's relationship in the long run, but redemption has to start somewhere, right? I'll certainly continuing praying for it as I have throughout this past year. Regardless, it was a nice gift to receive before heading off to the West for 2 whole weeks on vacation! I'll post some pictures and tell you all about my trip when I get back. Pray for safety as Jen, Tab, Naomi, Amanda, and I travel. :)

So tomorrow morning I take one more little test and then no more ob/gyn and no more 3rd year! At least I got to deliver 6 babies these last 2 months--that's pretty cool, huh? Of course, I just wanted to follow them right over to the warmer and be the one taking care of them afterwards--pediatrics here I come! I mean, look how cute they are. Right now I am procrastinating and trying to find every reason I can not to study. For the last 30 minutes I've been attempting to pick out a new hairstyle. :) Let's see what else I can find to do. I'm sure there's something good on HGTV.... :)

Just one more week to go!

Just one more week and I'll officially be done with my 3rd year of medical school. Yay! Less than a year and I'll be a doctor. Crazy, huh? All I know is that I am so ready for a break that I can hardly stand it. I get 2 1/2 weeks off before the madness starts again. Tabetha, Jen, Amanda, Naomi, and I are going to Washington to visit Tab's land of origin. :) It should be great fun. We'll spend a couple of days in Seattle, a few at Tab's house, and a few days camping in the Olympic National Park with hot spings, a rain forest, and gorgeous views of the Northwest shore. I am not a roughin' it kinda girl, but it'll be worth it to get to experience it all with my best girl friends (I hope!) It does look beautiful though, doesn't it?

So I'm reading this book by A.W. Tozer called Knowledge of the Holy. (I highly recommend reading some of his stuff if you never have; the Pursuit of God is one of my favorites.) Each chapter is about an attribute of God and what it means to us. Just thought I'd share some of his insights that I've found challenging:

"[Man] is wiling to share himself, sometimes even to sacrifice himself for a desired end, but never to dethrone himself. No matter how far down the scale of social acceptance he may slide, he is still in his own eyes a king on a throne, and no one, not even God, can take that throne from him."

"Unbelief is actually perverted faith, for it puts its trust not in the livng God but in dying men."

"The Christ of popular Christianity has a weak smile and a halo. He has become Someone-up-There who likes people, at least some people, and these are grateful but not too impressed. "

"For we are made for eternity as certainly as we are made for time, and as responsible moral beings we must deal with both."

"Another God whom our fathers knew not is making himself at home among us. This God we have made and because we have created him he can never surprise us, never overwhelm us, nor astonish us, nor transcend us."

First Post!

OK...so I guess it's my turn. Everyone keeps telling me I need to get my own blog. I think they're probably right. I am always reading everyone else's thinking how great it is to keep up with what's going on in their lives via the internet. But then I realize most of my friends have no idea what's going on in mine...especially since I am TERRIBLE about keeping in touch. So here goes.... Let's just hope I can find some middle ground between never updating a blog and becoming obsessed with it. :)