Andy's visit

Wow, I can't believe it's been two and a half months since my last update! Things have been busy as usual around here - actually busier than usual. I finished up my contact lens rotation and am currently working 5-6 days a week in the primary care clinic where I see a wide variety of patients. It's not uncommon to see patients with HIV, drug addictions, or personality disorders such as schizophrenia. One of my patients went off and was yelling at me because she thought I was killing her family and was afraid I would eat her eyes. Another patient had a seizure and had to be admitted to the hospital. There's never a dull moment!

In case you had be planning on bringing a grenade into the exam room...

Andy's been working at his new job in Washington for 2 months now and really enjoys it. He flew in this weekend to visit and while we had a wonderful time together, it wasn't long enough! While he was here we saw a movie, went out to dinner, made a trip to Miami, did some shopping, took Porter to the dog park, and relaxed at home. I had to drop him off at the airport this afternoon and I thought it'd be a little easier to say goodbye this time, knowing that we're nearly a quarter of the way through our time apart, but it was just as difficult as the first goodbye! Between now and his next visit I will be taking parts II and III of my national boards examinations so I have plenty of studying to keep me busy.

Family portrait: a day at the dog park! 

236 days until graduation!

Sleepless in...

Source: art.com 

Did you know Seattle's nickname is the Emerald city? I always thought it was the rainy city, kinda like Chicago is the windy city. Anyway, Andy and I are back from our trip! We had a great time in Seattle, but came back more tired than when we left - our vacations are hardly ever relaxing. We packed our days with sightseeing, shopping, hiking, and hunting... apartment hunting that is!

Andy flew out about a month ago for a job interview and received an offer so it was time for me to go and give my stamp of approval. With the offer signed I can now officially say we're moving to Seattle!

Jamaica, Jamaica, ya mon!

So I've been back from Jamaica for about two weeks and am just now starting to feel caught up on everything. I had a good time in Jamaica, though I was really only there for two and a half days. Four students, including myself, and one doctor saw around 170 patients in Kingston. I got the chance to see a couple diseases I haven't seen back home which was pretty cool for me (less so for the patient, no doubt).

I wish I had lots of photos to share, but I didn't want to bring my camera since I knew I'd be busy and wouldn't be able to keep an eye on it while I was working. Hopefully I can get copies of the photos my friends took and share those later. Here's a photo I took with my phone from the plane right before my battery died - we took off over the water and had a great view of the mountains.

One of the reasons it's been a bit crazy since I got back is because Andy and I are planning a trip on short notice. I can't divulge when or where we'll be going just yet, but I will say it's the opposite extreme from Jamaica, in more ways than one.

Odds & Ends

I know I'm way behind in my posting, so here's a quick rundown of things I've been up to.

• I passed part 1 of the national board exam! They made some major changes to the exam content and format in response to a huge cheating scandal at one of the other schools last year. As a result, scores dropped 13% nationally, bringing the pass rate down to 72%. To say that I was relieved to find out I passed would be a huge understatement. Most grueling and stressful 2 days of my life! I'll be taking part 3 in October and part 2 in November of this year.

• Finals are over and I'm now officially in my fourth (and final!) year. I'm in clinic 5 days a week doing exams and vision therapy as part of my pediatrics rotation. 

• Made two trips to Orlando. Once for visiting family combined with a trip to Universal with friends and the second time to participate in Special Olympics doing eye exams.

• Andy and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. Woohoo! We did a photoshoot with our wedding photographers right before and got some nice up to date photos of us. 

• Just celebrated my 25th birthday this week. As I opened the door Andy blew a noisemaker in my face and Porter rushed up to greet me wearing a lei and a Happy Birthday hat! Andy had flowers waiting for me on my desk, along with some of my favorite treats. It was a very sweet surprise!

    

• Enjoyed brunch this morning with a few friends. We've been together everyday for the last 3 years of school and now we're all doing our own thing with externships so it's nice to get together and catch up from time to time.

• In less than two weeks I'm heading out to Jamaica, provided nothing comes up this time. *fingers crossed*

• I'm considering going on a graduation trip and am trying to think of places we could go. I'm kinda liking the idea of renting out a luxury villa in Thailand, but we'll see. 

Back from Books and Boards

Now that I've had a couple weeks to recover I guess it's time for me to pop in to let everyone know that I survived my exam! I won't know how I scored for quite a while, but I'm trying to enjoy having a bit of a life again while also getting caught up on everything that I've pushed aside for the past few months.

The weekend after my board exam Andy's parents came and stayed with us. On Saturday we got up close and personal with lions, and tigers, and bears and rhinos, and zebras when we went on a drive-thru "safari".

While they were here they got to meet Porter, the newest member of our family. We adopted him less than one week before the biggest exam of my life, which I'll admit wasn't the best timing, but it felt like it was meant to be. Check out our adorable little boy!

Porter is a year and a half year old salt and pepper miniature schnauzer. He's fully grown and weighs 16 pounds, which makes him a great size for our small space. I snapped the above photos shortly after we got him - and before we had a chance to take him to the groomers. He had to get a much shorter haircut due to all the mats in his fur from his days on the streets.

The main reasons we were looking for a mini schnauzer were because they are a good size for apartments and they are better for people with allergies. (And who can resist such a cute little bearded face?!) Thankfully he was already potty trained and is quick to pick up new commands. The only problem we have had with him is that he has separation anxiety, which we have been working on and he is already showing great improvement.

I also wanted to mention fat orange cat studio, a photographer's blog I recently came across which is full of beautiful pet portraits. I'm totally inspired by Li's work and will try to keep her tips in mind when I take Porter out for his next photo shoot.

It's Crunch Time

and no, I'm not referring to my abs. I've been in hiding for the past couple months because I've been studying like crazy for part 1 of the national board exam. Part 1 is the hardest according to most (all?) people you talk to. It's a grueling 2 day exam that covers everything we've ever learned. It's less than a month away now, which means I'm really starting to feel the heat. It also means that in less than a month I'll get my life back and be able to return to blogging!