Day 2149: Happy 2013!

...three days in to it. Ha, how very Jessica of me to be late.

I have returned to school and it is in full swing. It's only pathology this block (and a new course that starts next week called Health Policy, which actually sounds interesting since it has to do with the Affordable Care Act and other related policies) so I am trying to get my red blood cell disorders, white blood cell disorders, etc etc in order.

Home was...something. Most (if not all) of you know the issues that arose whilst I was home. Well, to update you, things got better and then they took a turn for the worst. It's a lot of emotional turmoil that really just pisses me off, so I think I've made some headway as to how I want to deal with it all.

I returned to Milwaukee to get sick after my first night back. Fun, but not at all. After two days of icky, achy-ness (through the new year no less), I feel better. I tackled a little school yesterday and am back at it today. Sigh. Lots of learning, already.

Anyway, here are pictures from my trip home.

M and I went to Christmas in the Park!

Had some major best friend time. Amazing.

Did an ungodly amount of bikram yoga. Hotness/Hot mess.

A rainy Christmas in San Francisco.

Found old photos of me as Annie Oakley. YES.

Went to the happiest place on earth aka Disneyland.

My sister and I hanging out in CarsLand.

Day 2135: Home, at last.

Okay. So. This blog title is about 6 days too late, but a lot has happened since I have been home.

I took my pharmacology final, which, as expected, was a lot of bloody information. However, it is over and I am positive that I passed the class so hooray! The most difficult class of my M2 year, done-zo!

I flew home on Friday (the 14th) and there was a party on Saturday for all these little MBA-wannabes that my parents know so I was quite the left-out-duck in regards to conversation. The rest of the week has been a blur of seeing friends and hanging out. I am currently attempting this while listening to this.

I know this was a boring update post but someone's gotta do it. Pictures coming soon!

Day 1306: Almost home!

Oh hi. How are you?

My exams Thursday went surprisingly well. After my lab practical on Wednesday, I rocked that practical out. I did so well on the practical, and have had such a steady grade in that class, that I could have actually gotten a ZERO on that exam and my grade would not have moved at all. So. I stopped studying for that baby shortly after I posted my "Day 1303" post.

Human development/embryology went very well actually. I have discovered that the best way for me to actually learn this material is to teach it to someone else. So. That is the plan for next semester. Learning it. Teaching it. And then winning at it.

I left for southern California that night. I got to see my gorgeosa amiga Nickita Banana and hang out with her very redwood-like boyfriend. It's always good to see gal-pals and (re)connect. She's so smart gettin' her masters/PhD. Now I'm at my sister's place in SoCal, waiting for everyone to wake up, haha. I am very excited to come home and pay for expensive yoga (blech, no fun), see my friends (!!), hang out with my family and just be very grateful for all of the good in my life.

AND HELLO. I JUST COMPLETED MY FIRST SEMESTER OF MEDICAL SCHOOL. Thank baby Jesus, baby Buddha, and my favorite, baby Ganesh.

Images from here, here and here.

Day 1288: Semi-rested, semi-rejuvenated

I am back in Wisconsin after a glorious five days in (generally) sunny California. It was absolutely marvelous to be home and see my family and friends.

I didn't sleep as well or as much as I wanted, but it worked out okay. I napped. A lot. Usually while studying biochem, but that's to be expected.

Highlights of my trip:

• One morning, I decided to do the dishes. I made quite a bit of noise -- running the garbage disposal, dropping bowls, etc -- and my mom comes running down the stairs telling me to stop. She felt bad that I was doing dishes on vacation. She said I was on vacation and that I should be resting and not doing dishes. (collective awwwww) I mean how cute is that?
  
• Hanging out with my sister, whom I often forget, is very critical (in the best way possible...maybe) but very refreshing in her upfrontness.
  
• Seeing my pals! Shopping. Eating. Hanging out. Falling asleep while studying. All in the grand company of my closest pals.

Now I am back at school, semi-hitting the ground running. My sleep schedule has been off since I arrived yesterday morning but I plan on sleeping early tonight and getting my life semi-back on track. Next post? A fun biochem information about mixing food with drugs!

Day 1277: So many obstacles to home

I leave for beautiful California on Tuesday. I am SO close! And yet, I have to take an anatomy lab practical on Monday and then I have my half-human-development-half-anatomy written exam Tuesday morning. WHY MUST MY BRAIN BE ON CONSTANT OVERDRIVE?

For future reference: I want to make this blog a) more fun (it might be time to post pictures about my life since my lack of Facebook bothers some people), b) more science-for-normal-people (to break down what I'm learning for you all since it's fun to learn things).

Day 395: Home sweet home

I know, I know. It's been a while.

I'm finally home in California and I have the boxes in my house and the mileage on my car to prove it! My dear friend Tori and I drove through 8 states total to get from North Kakalaky to Cali-Cali and it was quite a trip. Here's a brief rundown of my trip -- check back later for pictures.

• North Carolina: This involved a really beautiful drive through the Appalachian mountains.
  
  
  

• Tennessee: Not much there. Long as heck state.
  
  
• Arkansas: My friend Joy warned us it wouldn't be that pretty but the fact that we were visiting her made it all the more worthwhile. Joy's a blast and her whole family (hers and her husband's) are loads of fun. Oh, and Tori and I almost died in a hurricane. That was fun.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Oklahoma: Not a fun state. We didn't get any pictures of Oklahoma-related signs. Boo.
  
  
• Texas: Ugly. Desolate. Boring. Moving on. (Granted, we drove on I-40 through northern Texas. Maybe the southern part is better. ...we weren't holding our breath.)
  
  
• New Mexico: Much more lively, better scenery.
  
  
• Arizona: Since it was along the way (sort of), we stopped off at the Grand Canyon. I hadn't been for ages. It was honestly breathtaking.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• California: Tori was amazed at LA traffic. LA wasn't as terrible and soul-sucking as I remember. We stayed a day and we drove home Wednesday. Tori and I went to a winery in Napa yesterday and we had a complete blast.

Currently, Tori and my sister are asleep on the couch and I'm here, blogging. I need to upload pictures, clean my room, get skinny, and prep for more friends heading out west :)

I love being home. I can feel sanity and general contentedness seeping back into my soul.

Day 374: Movin' on!

Hello everyone,

I apologize for the absurdly large delay between posts but who knew between taking an MCAT (which I wish not to speculate about, however, it went just fine) and working and packing up your life that, well, I wouldn't have time to blog about my life? (Not me.) I have (thusfar) sent home 9 boxes. Another one will probably be sent before I leave.

Anyhoo, what has been up? Well, I went out with some friends the night after my MCAT and had a blast. I've actually made some really incredible friends out here and I'll be really sad to leave them. Not sad enough though :P I can't wait to get back to Cali. I miss dry heat. And Cali sun. And liberal ideas. haha, although, I'm not pleased with the California Supreme Court at the moment.

Here is what's going on over the next few weeks.

• I work this weekend (Saturday and Sunday).
• I check out of my complex and leave for Charlotte-esque on Monday, June 1.
• I fly out to New York on June 2.
• I fly back to Charlotte (with my gal-pal Tori) on June 10.
• I leave for Cali with Tori (meaning, in my car) June 12. I'm trying to decide if I should stay with my friend, Joy, in Arkansas (free housing and most likely free food) for a day. She lives 2 hours off the main highway heading west but it is free housing and food and general relaxation before continuing on Tori and my three-day-12-hours-a-day-driving jaunt.
• Next we're off to New Mexico then to the City of Angels (aka Los Angeles aka the city where Jessica's soul dies). Tori has never been so we're going to check out the sights and maybe go out one night.
• Then, I finally get home. Finally! I can't freaking wait!

Day 339: The end is near!

I remember last semester and how I couldn't wait to go home. That same feeling is here but it's not as prevalent as it was last semester. I think it a lot of factors are at play, the main ones being: last semester I was breaking up with all of my friends, this semester I'm so overloaded with stuff to do that I don't really have time to think about home. I think about home all the time, of course, I just don't think about me at home. I have many loose ends to tie up here in G'boro so I need to get those sorted out.

Anyway, I held a "big" SIP session today and 20 or so kids came. It was great. It's a nice 80-degree Friday and they stayed to get their chemistry knowledge straight. I really appreciated it. And this kid I think is SO cute came and he loves me so we're good ;P

Physio quiz next Monday, Organic exam (last one!) on Friday. Lots of learning in between. I'm watching some "Office" and "Bones" now and then it's onto a whole lotta review.

Day 210: And it's all over (for now)!

Yes! I win!

And I'm done suckers. Muahaha.

I'm not going to lie. That final was hard. It wasn't necessarily anything I couldn't handle but it was, in typical Dr. Red (that's my Organic professor's "name") fashion, something I couldn't expect. I also did not study as much as I did for this final as I have for our previous exams but I've got to say, all in all, it was a good freaking final. It really tested one's breadth of Organic knowledge and I don't know...I'm a huge nerd who loves this stuff so I thought even though it was tough, it was good-tough. Either way, it's over and I'll get my grade for this course by the end the of the week (most likely).

The best freaking news ever is that I am going HOME. To California. Tomorrow.

Life does not get better than that.

Day 208: Boys,Time Management and Donuts

The male species here in North Carolina are all so...not for me. My roommate has a new job. The boys at her new job asked about her roommate (me). Some of them have given her pictures of themselves to show me. All these little kids (literally, they're all teenagers) amuse me. Because they're so desperate for a girl. I just thought that would be a funny anecdote for you all.

Speaking of my roommate's new job...it is at Krispy Kreme.What does that mean for me? A crap ton of donuts and a gabajillion pounds. Not good.

This is pretty much what I've done with the donuts she's brought home...

In other news, because all I know is science now, I didn't even know when I went home. I thought I flew home on Wednesday 12/17 but apparently it's Tuesday 12/16. Ha. Good thing I checked my flight status again. Now I can't decide if I want to pay an extra $75 to catch the first flight out, in an attempt to avoid air traffic and weather issues. I am going to home a whole day earlier than I thought so I guess it won't be that big of a deal.

Anyhoo, more studying. I think it's ridiculous how much I love doing problems and making sure I understand the stereochemistry and all that fun science jargon. Whee nerdyness!

Day 200: More tests (ridiculous), finals and blood!

Hello hello!

I am so close to the end, I can taste it. It tastes like sweet victory, hard work and sheer joy. Well, sort of, haha.

There has been a lot of Physics drama in the past three days and here is what went down. Apparently, the test printed funny and all the correct answers were lighter (in color) than the other options (it was a multiple choice test). Some kids figured it out and whispered the knowledge to their friends and thus cheating ensued. As a result, Professor Oldy McOld has decided to issue a retest on Monday 12/8. ...did I forget to mention that our final is on Wednesday 12/10? Oh yeah. So there's that.

Class was a vicious environment on Friday -- filled with seething students and an unappreciated professor and you can only imagine the sort of bickering and back-and-forth cattiness that occurred. It was not good.

The moral of the story is, shut up, stop whining and study. I'm not happy about taking another test (so close to the final no less) but instead of whining I am going to study more concepts and make sure I've got the math down. What else can I do? Bitch and moan some more. Yawn.

My Organic exam can go either way. It's fine though. As previously mentioned, we can drop an exam and even though I hate that mentality ("I can drop a test so this last one doesn't matter"), I did study hard and whatnot but if it goes the bad way ... well ... I can drop it. How begrudging of me.

Finals next week include Physics on Wednesday and Biology on Thursday. Then it's Organic on Monday 12/15 and then HOME ON THE 17TH. I'm a little excited and antsy. Can you tell?

And on a joyous note, I gave blood today! Whee second time! Let me just tell you, that is a big needle. And I have an excellent iron count. Yes!