great diamond island

Midway through my second week and already I am dreaming of christmas vacation...  I suppose reliving last weekend will just have to suffice for now though.  Emily and I were lucky enough to stay at a beautiful house on Great Diamond Island on Saturday and Sunday.  Just a twenty min ferry ride away from Portland, we packed up yummy ingredients for a variety of meals, our swim suits and hats, books (both study variety and fun variety), art materials and the Oliver and had a little sister adventure.  My classmate's family owns the house and it just so happened that it was unoccupied, so we occupied it!  It was so nice to get away, and even though their house is right on the ocean with a perfect view of Portland, it felt like a different planet!  I was a terrible student, and we lounged around doing whatever we pleased.  This included swimming, swinging, ice cream eating, puppy playing, hot cocoa drinking, kayaking, mussling, nature viewing, and oh so much relaxation.  I both wish I could go there every weekend, and am glad that I can't because I would be so unproductive forever!  Luckily I didn't have too much to catch up on when I got back on Sunday night, and so I didn't feel too guilty for the break!  

 

Looking like professional ferry riders... no big deal

 

  

 

 O just likes to know what's going on...and then gets in the middle of it and licks it..

coming to a close

My, the past ten days have just flown on by.  It's hard to believe that I am starting my second semester of PA school in just a few short hours.  (and yes, if you are looking at the time, my first day starts at 1:00 and is a measly 2 hour orientation lecture)  Gotta ease into the routine slowly I think!  I think I might be apprehensive about starting again, just because of how different my two worlds of school vs vacation have been.  The truth is, I'm not the best at vacationing.  HAHA.  It's sad, but so true.  I get too angst-y and micro-manage-y, which is ridiculous in many ways, but ten days was a good amount of time for me and my sanity I think.  It certainly helped that the weather was mostly gorgeous, that my family was in town, and that I finally got out on a ferry ride to a near by island.  Joy!  Apprehension notwithstanding, I am excited about school too!  The nerd in me prevails, and first days are always kind of fun with new binders ready, pens and pencils gathered.  Although, I didn't really have to gather anything, I filed away my notes from last semester in my filing cabinet on my second day of break, and my fully prepared backpack has been hanging in the office ready in case I needed to learn anything at a moments notice..

Pictures from the sibling visit were kind of sparse on my end, but here are a few we managed to capture:

 Micah found a skate park super close to my house, so we checked it out.

Emily's car died on the way to Portland, so Micah and I went to rescue her... then the rescue car died as well.  We made the most of the situation and sat in the trunk of the car waiting for the okay to get back on the road.

Cooking at Joe's house...for some reason this is the only picture I have of the four of us.

I guess technically, that statement isn't true.  To the right of me, waaaay back on the stage is Joe playing at the Saddleback Bluegrass Festival.

1/6th of a PA!

Well folks, I did it.  The hellish last push that was finals weeks took a lot out of me but it's over now!!  Yesterday I slept until 8:40!!  It was like Christmas.  Felt amazing.  I happily spent the whole day cleaning and doing domestic things.  JP has been absolutely wonderful at keeping the house up, getting clothes cleaned and making sure I eat, but the last two weeks he was working crazy hours (like 3am-1:00pm for a website launch) and everything turned into a tornado disaster zone that our eyes just glazed over in order to ignore...  BUT yesterday I turned up some music and washed dishes and counters and did three loads of laundry..and that was also like christmas.  There is nothing like the lift of pressure that I now feel.  It sounds pretty silly, but whenever I was trying to wash dishes or do anything helpful towards our household during the semester, I was so stressed out about losing studying time, that I would rush through it and resent everything about it.  I know JP is super glad to have a partner back again, even if it's only for 10 days!

The grocery situation was getting dire...you can only eat so much hummus and probiotics..

In any case, it feels absolutely amazing to have my first semester of school behind me.  People from the program have said that the summer semester is like PA boot camp, and I am glad to be done with it.  I am actually super excited for the next semester!  I have learned SO MUCH, not the least of which includes learning that I can actually do this and succeed.  We are moving on to modules instead of a mis-match of classes that don't really relate to each other much.  By modules I mean when we do pulmonary, we learn everything pulmonary.  Pathology, drugs, presentation...etc.  All our classes focus on one thing, which will be a complete change of tune from summer, and I think works better with how I learn.  Plus I never have to step foot in a cadaver lab again, so that alone is worth it!

Just as dorky as ever...here I am practicing for my last final exam (a full physical on a "patient" classmate), playing the part of patient...with a stethoscope.

So, what am I going to do to fill all this beautiful free time?  My little brother flew in from Minneapolis last night!! True to form, we picked him up and went straight to a comedy club that had open mic last night.  It was a pretty ridiculous place, but Micah got up on stage and did great!  He works really hard on his stage presence and his jokes and timing, it's been so fun to witness his evolution from the first couple of times he went up to now.  Awwww.  In any case, the great sibling hang of 2012 is commencing in just a few short hours!!  Emily is arriving in Portland in time for lunch (even though she is in the midst of her own crazy grad school semester...no rest for the Walshes), and Joe is getting back in town later tonight.  We are going to a bluegrass festival for the weekend that Joe is playing in.  I found a great place for the pups to stay, and I'm super psyched for a little vacation!  Since I have to pack all of summer into these next few days, an outdoor festival seems like the perfect way to start!

it's time for finals

All I do is what I always do all the time now, and that is study.  I will return to real life on Wednesday at 4:00 for TEN WHOLE DAYS of freedom.  For now I leave you with the fact that I passed Neuro and Anatomy, a fact that I don't think my body has quite absorbed yet, and am so close to the end of semester one.  White coat here I come.