Grace Through Faith: 10 crazy weeks!

Hoooooooooly smokes. It's been an awful long time! I'm sure you all understand that spare time has just been VERY hard to come by in these first 10 weeks of medical school. And you eventually get to the point where so much has happened since your last post that trying to "update" your blog just seems far too overwhelming. So I won't try to do a true "update", because that would take days. Here are the highlights:

Anatomy is OVERRRRRRRR!!! It was the most challenging course I've ever taken (which was duely reflected in my grade, of course). I know that there was room for improvement in my study habits, but I was able to maintain a much more fulfilling "life outside of school" than some of my super-stressed, crazy classmates, which is an accomplishment that I'm actually quite proud of. And I did pass, so it's all good :)

No more cadaver dissection!!! I'm pretty darn psyched about that, I'll admit! It was fun in the beginning, and definitely a huge learning aid, but about halfway through the novelty wore off and then it was just... not so fun. We got together as a class at one of our classmate's parents' houses in Westminster and ceremonially burned our anatomy lab scrubs in a giant bonfire, which was incredibly satisfying (photos below)! All that said, let me add the disclaimer that the sacrifice made by those that donated their bodies as well as their families is something I'll be eternally grateful for - it's no small thing to willingly subject your body to that, and no small thing to put off laying your loved one to rest for months on end for the benefit of others. There's actually a service held for them once a year that I'll definitely make an effort to go to.

Ben's old Jeep crapped out, we bought a new Jeep, it's passenger-side front wheel snapped off within two months of buying it, the dealership wouldn't budge on paying for it, so we had to go to a different dealership and use our insurance to have it fixed. $3600 in damage. I just thank the good Lord that it happened while Ben was pulling into a parking space and not while we was doing 75 mph on 95 (which constitutes about 80% of his daily commute). We have it back now, and I'm currently the principal driver on it, because...

We've made the decision to replace my 13-year-old, 140,000-mile piece of junk, and Ben's friend Tom has offered us a GREAT deal on his 2006 Honda Accord. The only catch being that it's a stick-shift, and while I'm capable of driving a stick, I don't particularly WANT to given the amount of city driving I do (not to mention the parking garages. ACK!). So it's looking like I'm going to take over the Jeep and Ben will be driving the Accord. We have to finish paying off the tail end of one of his tool bills (from when he was a mechanic oh-so-many years ago) before we can take on the new car payment, but that'll be paid off around Christmas time. I'm so excited to finally have TWO cars that we can actually rely on, for a change. Granted, shi* happens, but at least I know that giant repairs will be LESS LIKELY to pop up on us.

The kitties are 6 months old! They're getting so big :'( I want them to stay little forever! They're into everything, jumping up on everything, driving Ben up the wall... I'm definitely the patient one. Which isn't AT ALL surprising if you know my husband. Patience isn't exactly his middle name. But we love them :)

I have TWO new nieces/nephews on the way! Most of you probably already know this, but it's an exciting update nonetheless. Em and I just had a shower for Amberly, which was highly successful and tons of fun. Her baby girl is due December 27th :) I'm just SO freaking excited to meet her! We haven't had a new little girl in the family for, well, 10 years now (as I choke on the words... I can't believe Lacy is 10!!!), so I've almost forgotten what little girls are like! Em is 17 weeks along now, and just *barely* starting to look the part, which is just ADORABLE :) Baby Beck is due April 19th. Their next sonogram is December 4th, when they'll find out whether we're having a niece or a nephew. I'm feeling pretty strongly that it's a girl though. We shall see! I'm so incredibly happy for both of them. And I'm so thankful that I have them around to live vicariously through them whilst I await the day when my husband finally feels "ready". Not that I'd have a baby tomorrow if he were "ready", but that's only because my logical brain knows that now isn't exactly the *best* time. But that's a topic for another blog on another day...

I've been doing some shadowing lately, in the Emergency Department and in Shock Trauma, and I'm definitely confirming my interest in Emergency medicine! I just LOVE it so much. For so many reasons. I'm currently working on setting up some pediatrics shadowing because I do want to explore that too. And I'd also love to do some OB/GYN shadowing. I KNOW I'd love obstetrics, but I don't know that I'd love the schedule and the extensive training. So I'm not so sure about all that, but I want to get on the inside of it and see what it's really like. Oh how I love all things clinical :) Oh, speaking of which, I also got my white coat after finishing anatomy! Very exciting. So I'm feeling more "official" these days :)

I think that's the main thrust of what's been going on in my life these days. I'm now beginning a new class that is so far proving to be a HUGE relief - it's Cell and Molecular Biology, which is essentially what I majored in. I feel SO much more "at home" in this course so far. It's all familiar, so studying is more a matter of reviewing as opposed to cramming new information into my brain. It's pretty darn fabulous, I won't lie :) And neither lecture nor small group are "required" as far as attendance goes, so on most days there's no reason why I HAVE to go in to school. That could be dangerous for a slacker like myself ;) But I really am feeling more motivated this time around.

So, long story short, I *may* be able to blog on a more regular basis during this class, so stay tuned :) Now, for a brief photo tour.

Amberly at 33 weeks, with her beautiful new bassinet at her "surprise" shower ;)