and in other news

I've been neglecting the blog land lately! Here are a few of the reasons why:

I started my new (now slightly less new) job at the University of Colorado Hospital on the Pulmonary unit and I am loving it! It is such a different job than the one I was doing at my old hospital, and a much better one at that. The patient population is different, much younger overall and very transient. Most patients aren't on the floor too long, except for the Cystic Fibrosis patients who can be there for weeks on end. There is

a lot of teamwork and the staff seems really friendly and upbeat. Overall, it is quite the improvement in employment! Also, my friend Maggie works seven floors below me in the medical ICU and we sometimes, almost never, get to have lunch together in the afternoon, but when we do it's nice!

I of course have been studying for the GRE which, since school has been out, has taken over any free time that I might have had. While it is a vast improvement from working on organic chemistry, it's kind of ridiculous how much I didn't retain from my career as a middle/high school scholar. Hmmm. Hopefully I will pull it out in the end, mostly I just try to tell myself that every time I sit down to study I must be getting at least a little better and that's enough for right now. Looking at a mid-July test date and then I will be done with gigantic standardized exams for a while!! Woo Hooo!

Tomorrow I am flying back to MN for a long weekend visiting friends, family and of course throwing a bachelorette party for Annie! I, as with most of the time I book trips, can't believe that it is already time to get going! It's going to be a quick one, but I

am determined to squeeze in time for everyone and go to at least one of my favorite thai restaurants while I am there! I am sure there will be lots of fun pictures to share once I get back! That will, however, be longer than one might think because I am always a little crazy and am leaving for a medical trip to Haiti right on the heels of this quick jaunt home! I am really, really excited to go there and help out in any way that I can. I think this trip will be amazing, humbling, life-changing and all that jazz. I've been itching to travel out of the country and this opportunity just kind of fell into my lap. Faced with the prospect of volunteering in Haiti, or taking a condensed version of biochemistry with a lab all summer you can obviously understand why I would be doubly excited about travel!

So, those are a few of the reasons for my prolonged silence, hopefully you understand! I will post as soon as I get back with some pictures and stories from my adventure. In the meantime, I am sure you are dying to see how big the pup has grown recently, aren't you?!