a break in the action

howdy all.

i love to hear how all of you are doing. chris, your projects are awesome and you are going to be a killer graphic designer! kim, i can't believe that you are going to move down to the ER (sometimes)!!!! that's super cool. way to be versatile and find new ways to expand your knowledge base and resume.

as for me, life is somewhat back to normal. after ten days of hell (four exams and a quiz) i feel like i can breathe again. the fresh air in colorado helped refuel my soul (and feel like a person again) and seeing mitchell filled my heart with joy (sap tastic i know!). tests went aok... still a med student... and i'm finally feeling like i can survive the shit show that is medical school. colorado was awesome! it was fun from beginning to end. we got to hike, wander, go out to breakfast, drink wine, sleep lots, go to a great fancy restaurant, and even ski (in october!!!!). it was wonderful. my friend gretchen's family has a condo in frisco, co which is a sweet little mellow town surrounded by mountains. it was the most perfect mental health vacation ever!

seeing mitchell was of course wonderful, but of course left me a little broken hearted. chris, how have you been doing this long distance thing for so long?!?!?! it is truly killing me. we had such a great time together and i could be fully myself... i miss that here in omaha. i don't yet feel like i can be fully me around everyone here... we are still in the "getting to know you" phase a bit... even though it has been a few months. last night was a girls night for some of the ladies in my class and i finally began to open up a bit more. it was super fun.

i'll be in seattle for a week over thanksgiving (the 24th through th 1st) and again for christmas (the 27th-2nd) and i hope to make it down to portland on at least one of the trips. if anyone wants to take a road trip to seattle too, i would LOVE to see you!!!

i hope everyone is doing great! Love you!
Em

Recent Class projects

Here is a project from one of my classes. The assignment was to design an informative WPA poster, which was fun. I know that my art will always imitate my life in one form or another, but I going to try and focus my work on things NOT related to Mike.

For this class I also had to design a sticker to put on the back of all my projects, its got mike all over it, but I'm really happy with it. The application I did it in, Photoshop, is so intimidating to me, mainly because I'm not as fluent in it as I am in illustrator (which is paint on steroids). When Michael was here we went to Skamania lodge and it was really romanic (blaw blaw blaw) and one of the things we did was draw on each other's chucks, so mike drew the little image that I incorporated in my design.

The ER and more J disaster waiting to happen

Taren it was so awesome to hear from you! I meant to write back/comment on your post earlier, but I was in NY when I got it. I seriously start laughing out loud, DYING, when I think back to the mysterious 'phone in the wall' incident. OMG, freakin hilarious, I have yet to see such a collectively air-headed performance repeated to that degree. Miss you guys like crazy all the time.

Ash its so good to hear from you! Sounds like you had a great weekend with Brent's family: that's awesome. I am SO anxious to find out where you'll be place next year: maybe even more anxious than you!

I'm just getting ready to work my 2nd (and last) day of orientation to working in the ER. I agreed to float down there when they need people. Partly because we had been going through a period for about 3 months where our unit had a really low patient census and a lot of people were getting canceled, but I'm really just doing because I think it sounds like a great opportunity to get some work in a different area. The ER is still a "critical care" area so they'll probably tend to give me the sickest patients, but I'll get to see lots of non critical patients as well, which I think will be a big step closer (or at least a good window into) more primary-like healthcare (because the ER is actually where most of our population goes to get primary healthcare). I'm really excited and nervous about this new role, but I think once I get handle on the new pace and patient flow I'm going to like it a lot.

The ICU has been pretty fun lately, although because we've been so 'slow' lately I haven't gotten to see many open heart surgery patients. A big part of us having so few patients was nobody was signing up for elective surgeries: people not going into the hospital or doctor...possibly because they've lost there insurance lately. But the slow bubble as already seemed to limit itself: none of us could believe that less people in the hospital was actually a sign of people getting healthier. We are already getting busy again: now with patient's needing emergent OHS. I'm going to keep myself from ranting about this right now...

Emily, I'm excited to hear about your anniversary weekend with Mitchell! How was Colorado?!

J and I hung out over the weekend. It was actually almost a date had not Chris, Katie & Richy not come along. We went and saw "where the wild things are." It was kinda weird that he had asked me to go with him, bought the tickets in advance...awfully 'date-like.' The weekend turned out pretty awkward because he pretty much overstayed his welcome, invited his friends to hang out on Saturday, and I didn't really handle it well because I was too polite, I guess in letting him hang out for longer than he should have. He admitted later when everything hit the fan that he did want to take me out on a date, reminded my that it would have been our 3rd year anniversary, and we had to have the whole conversation all over again about why our relationship it not going to work. It made me realize that I am getting over things because I truly believe that we are over. Maybe he isn't getting over it as well, and I don't think I'm helping at all because I'm being too nice. Of course I can't help it though because I do still care about him and don't want to keep hurting him. ugh. Somehow I've agreed that it would be fun to hang out halloween weekend, but the more I think about it the more I think that we are just foolishly setting ourselves up for a disaster.

I am excited about putting together my halloween costume though! I'm going to be "the government bailout." Its going to be fun.

Gots to go. Loves & hugs to everyone of you.

Long time no talk

Well, it's been a while for all of us it looks like, but hopefully we can start this up again! Chris, how was your birthday and the party on Friday night (a few Friday nights ago?!?)

Sorry for being a complete train wreck the last couple of weeks! Cardio is finally done, and I'm finally feeling back to normal. I didn't do anything about my abnormal tests because in all reality, it is probably nothing. I have started doing meditation with a bunch of my classmates, and just trying to minimize stress where possible which has really helped (or so I'm telling myself). I realized that I am irrational a lot of the time, so I'm trying to cut that out as well :)

Anyway, things are going well. We finished our hell week of midterms with OMM and Cardio, and I'm really starting to feel like I could be a somewhat decent 3rd year medical student. I.e. I can probably answer basic pimping questions from my attendings and not look like a total idiot in front of some patients. Well, I'm getting there. As the date nears for when we choose our 3rd year rotations, I'm feeling less and less anxious about where I'm going to be next year (and where Brent will be as well), things will work out, it'll all be okay.

I think this wknd helped the most. We left on Thurs right after our OMM midterm and drove up to Northern Cali where Brent's family lives. It was so nice to see the seasons change; see the leaves turning yellow, red, and orange and have the smell of fall in the air. It reminded me that despite the 80 degree weather in LA, the world is getting closer to the holiday season. We stayed the night in Danville and then drove to Tahoe the next morning. Brent has an amazing cabin on West shore, and his family came up to hang out for the wknd. I've never been there so they took me bike riding, hiking, and his sis and I even got our makeup done while he had ski patrol classes. It was exactly what I needed, and it really helped being in a place so like home, with people that I really enjoy who aren't constantly talking medicine. Well, they all talk dentistry, but it's nice to be able to tune it out I guess.

Anyway, that's my little blurb of an update. I'm sorry it was so hurried, I'm now trying to play catchup for renal, I'm already 14 hours behind. Oh well, I'll continue to just breathe.

I hope you all are doing well. I can't wait to hear how everything is going. Miss you guys like crazy.

HOLY SHIT I'M TURNING 25

So, I'm turning 25 this Tuesday and I'm a tiny bit freaked out. Not really the fact I'm getting old (because I don't think 25 is old), but because I AM STILL IN FUCKING SCHOOL! (pardon my french)

OK, on the bright side I love school and the major I have now! I feel like I have been in school forever, and all my friends (you guys) are getting couriers around me and I'm still buying back to school supplies. But seriously, I am so happy with my classes, I love doing my homework and feel like an over achiever in my classes because I'm always the first to upload my homework (we do a lot of homework involving flickr, photo version of facebook), and have not procrastinating. I am also one of the best in my classes, that is a first. Business classes were so lame and boring and BLAW, never took the time I should have to do well. Now the profs are asking me to show the class what I figured out and using my work to display in display cases as school. I have found my place!

Oh by the way I changed my major to Graphic Design... I'm going to be a graphic designer.

I'd like to thank Mike because one night in maui I was expressing to him how envious I was of my friends (Kim, Jessie) and him for having found a courier they love, and that I wish I could have that. So he asked me "what would be your dream job?" I told him "designing logos for companies" he said "well, why don't you do that?". Seemed simple enough right. So that was in the middle of a term when that happened. When I got home I met with the Art Department Director, showed her my credits from Art School that wouldn't transfer and my work from classes, she waived a lot of the classes I took and next thing I know I'm an art student again!

I also would like to thank Jessie! I was so jealous of your job and wanted to know how to get into a position like yours, you totally motivated me to figure it out!

Ok that is my school situation.

Being that I like to plan ahead, I had all these elaborate plans for my birthday and started with going to napa with the family and Michael, to Disneyland with Michael, to Vegas with you girls and Michael, to a fun weekend in Seattle with Michael... do you see the common denominator?

Well Mike couldn't get work off... when does he tell me this you ask??? the day before flying to see him 3 weeks ago, hmmmmmmmmmm I was pissed and disappointed in him. So, after getting over the fact that he could not get work off despite his efforts due to seniority (it turns out), I cried. Because shit I'm turning 25, major birthday, and you were suppose to be in all my plans, not because it was my idea but because it was YOUR idea... (that was me talking to him :) So I called him last week after getting home from maui and sobbed on the phone to him. My parents didn't want to come down to Portland in the middle of the week due to work, all my friends are either moved away or gone in general (except for you Lena but you get what I'm saying. What started as this elaborate event turned into a solo birthday. So anyways Mike is flying in on Monday night at 11pm and leaving Thursday at 10am. Its going to be a short visit, and yes I know I just spent two weeks with him in paradise, but ALL I WANT FOR MY BIRTHDAY is my boyfriend, can you blame me. We may go to the Skamania Lodge for the my birthday night and do some wine tasting... it will be fun

I am having a dinner party on friday the 9th, everyone is invited :)

I'd like to Welcome Taren to the blog, its about time lady!

Chris Ritter

Friday Nights...Three Years Later

First and foremost......HELLO lovely ladies of 5117. Second, there better be a spellcheck on this thing, and yep, there is:) So, I couldn't resist but share this story with all of you as it serves as a perfect intro. into my contributions on this blog. With it being Fall and all I get nostalgic when 'Back to School' time rolls around thinking about our old White Palace and all the memories I had there....tear....literally....rolling down my cheek right now. I think back to countless dinner parties, the time we were SURE Genieveve's (sorry, spell check wont help with that doozy of a name) phone was trapped in the wall and we called Dana to confirm what we were sure was a haunting of some sort, and of course; Friday nights.

Oh, Friday nights. It seems like there was always great anticipation of what Friday night would hold. In the early days, it seemed like there was always some party that involved us dressing up, which of course involved us first making a trip to the Lombard Goodwill and purchasing literal crap. As time progressed, Friday nights meant we were actually hosting the party, or someone had somebody special visiting from somewhere; be it Pat McCormick, or that guy that had a thing for you Lena where the visit ended in a blow-up on the porch and Courtney and I snooping on the other side of the creaky screen door....all that to say, I look at my life now and laugh at how different things are.

Right now, Gabe is literally snoring on our couch. He's exhausted with the new job, though he becomes excessively irritated when I suggest that it's having an effect on his energy level. The guy is counseling kids who have been removed from the public school system for drug and alcohol abuse as his first real job out of college so I don't blame him for being tired, but I can assure you we weren't scoping out costume parties for our Friday night plan. Instead, one of my co-workers at the Bank was turning 30 something so we had a shindig at a cute little New Mexican restaurant up by the Woodland Park Zoo. But the best part about the night for me, was when we were sitting around the table and talk turned to college, and Gabe and I started retelling the story about when we had a party at Ashley's house where Gabe turned into Schindler List when he had to barter with Public Safety and usher Me, My Sister, and oh, Ryan Wilbur out of the attic because we were sloppy drunk. I think Jessie got her first MIP that night.....correct me if I'm wrong;) Needless to say, here I am 3 years after I moved out of one of the 'angled' rooms in the basement (shout out to Chris with that one) and my favorite part of the night is reliving one of the memories from life spent with all of you.

All that to say, I love all of you, and cherish all of those memories so much...and that I can't wait to get into the hang of this blog thing.

Testing

Please don't kill me for being obnoxious and trying to test this first...