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)