July 1st?! Seriously, I didn't think its been that long.  So much has happened.  I'll just jump in...All of July was spent worrying and studying for my National Board Test Part I.  Then I actually took it August 1 and 2nd.  The 3rd my old room mate Kellie and I drove all the way back to our homes in Montana.  Long trip but so worth getting home in one day.  Then I spent the next week hanging out with my family.  Then Kellie got married and I was one of the bridesmaids - talk about serious fun!  The bachelorette party, the rehearsal dinner, and then the reception...I had so much fun with all the girls that came from school.  Then the next week I spent a lovely relaxing week at our cabin on Whitefish Lake.  A good friend came over a few nights and we played pinochle until way too late but it was worth the competition.  Then off to Bozeman for another wedding - this one, I was only a reader but it was lots of fun.  I had never been to a black-tie wedding but dressing up was very fun.  Then back home for one last week of family time.  Then I hopped on the train (it was a good trip!) back to school.  School has started and its in full swing, but 3rd year is not quite the pressure and load of 1st and 2nd year, but its still a lot of work.  So that's the last few months in a nutshell.  One of the best things I have done since I got back was hike Saddle Mountain.  We summitted the peak (3283 ft) and could see the coast and 5 other mountain peaks.  Oh, and P.S. I found out 2 weeks ago that I passed my boards - yippee! 1 for 1 and only 2 more to go.  And I got my 4th year rotations lined up - Germany, Eugene OR, Internal at Portland and finally Browning MT.  It should be a diverse and exciting year for my last year in Optometry School.

I'm sure that I had blogged since it says I have...I was just sure of it.  Well, nothing much has changed.  June just flew by in a storm of my grandfather's 80th birthday party, school, more school, Rose Festival fireworks, a date, a BBQ, a few naps, working at the bar on Sundays, and Las Vegas for a week.  Side note on Vegas: everyone should go and have lots of fun, bring friends and money and a camera, and be safe.  I loved every minute of it!  But back to June...well technically it was over yesterday.  Which means that today is the first of July and my big scary National Board tests starts in one month.  Which is why I am going to disappear off the face of the Earth for the next month.  I need to focus and study.  Unlike what I am doing now, which is taking a study break at the library to blog.  Its not that I don't want to talk to anyone or go out and have fun but this is the biggest thing that has happened to me in my life and I paid a lot of money for it so I need to pass it - which I will, as long as this month keeps me focused.  And - as soon as it is done, off to HOME!  And to be in two beautiful weddings, seeing lots of friends and family.  That is going to be great!  So, with that...back to the books. 

Ahhh, this is the life.  Its beautiful weather, the sun is shining, June is around the corner, flowers are blooming, I live an hour from the ocean...but I get to go to more school and sit inside a classroom that only has 4 windows.  Yep, this is the life of a graduate student.  Yes, I have paid money to go to class in the summer.  Granted, these classes will be done and I don't have to add them onto the already-too-many credits this fall and spring but yet, it doesn't seem so great.  Thank goodness it is only 10 weeks.  Although, at the end of those 10 weeks I get to take my first of three National Board Tests.  When I started grad school, I thought - I don't have to take boards for 2.5 years, that's a long ways away.  Nope - it came pretty quickly. 

So since the last entry I haven't done a ton.  I got my white coat which signifies I get to see patients but its the shorter one so that means I still have an attending doc that will have to sign off on my every test.  I'm totally ok with that because I don't know if I'm ready to practice but they keep scheduling patients for me.  Also, I turned 24.  It was a wonderful birthday filled with lots of friendship eating and drinking.  Maybe a little over the top on the drinking but I had SO much fun.  I also flew home for a short weekend to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday.  I got to meet my new little second cousin who is 3 months old - what a cute little chunk of a baby.  Other than that, been going to school, trying to procrastinate as much as possible and sleep as much as possible.  Hopefully this Friday I get to go see some fireworks to celebrate the Rose Festival and not get completely downpoured on.  Rain in the forecast all week and weekend.

Well, its over.  Much to my grandmother's relief, my nose piercing is gone.  The only constant "stud" in my life has been thrown away.  Tossed out.  My almost-4-year relationship is over.  Time to grow up (at least from an outsider's perspective.)

I also have finished half of my degree today.  It feels wonderful.  In a little over a week I will start my third year of optometry school and with that comes real patients with eye problems that will come to clinic and hope that I can fix all of whatever it is that is bothering them.   I celebrated by taking my birthday massage early.  WOW - if only I could get a massage every day.  Wait, then I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much.  Maybe every other month.  That could work.  But I am going out tonight to celebrate with classmates and soon to be gone school friends that are starting on their 4th year rotations.  Only one more year for me!

So it been over a month since I posted last, but let me tell you...lots of stuff has happened, although other than a week of it was boring to all except those in optometry.  Yep, the first 3 weeks of March were filled with lots of lectures, studying, test after test and proficiency after proficiency.  Finally it was the 26th and my friend Meghan (pictured above) were on a plane headed to Kona, Hawaii!  Spring break in Hawaii...it was wonderful.   We did everything...ate fruit, laid on the beach, snorkeled, saw a volcano, laid on the beach more, slept in, stayed up late, saw some turtles, went to a luau - you name it - we did it.  Literally.  Overall it was wonderful and I did not want to come back to say the least.  Especially since this last week was again filled with the testing and the proficiencies.  The next three weeks should also fly by because I am almost done with my second year.  I can hardly believe it.  I am officially scheduled to be in clinic seeing real patients, not just my classmates (as long as this semester's grades and such are above passing.)  Finally, its here.  I'm a little nervous but more excited.  But anyway, I also put some new pictures up (only 3) from the little vacation but they are my 3 favorite.  

P.S.  It is not raining currently.  Amazing.  Although it did rain last night it is not currently raining and that is very exciting because it hasn't happened for quite some time.  Hopefully is stays like this.

So a friend of mine understands my need for laughter.  Now I am not advocating forwards as I do not forward anything unless specifically asked, but this was well worth the effort.  To all those that ponder:

Ten Thoughts to Ponder
Number 10 - Life is sexually transmitted.

Number 9 - Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Number 8 - Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich.

Number 7 - Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.

Number 6 - Some people are like a Slinky.....not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.

Number 5 - Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

Number 4 - All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

Number 3 - Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents?

Number 2 - In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

AND THE NUMBER 1 THOUGHT:
We know exactly where one cow with mad-cow-disease is located among the millions and millions of
cows in America but we haven't got a clue as to where thousands of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration.

 

I hope that all are smiling now.  I am the lucky one who gets to go back to her life of tests, tests, quizzes, and more tests.  I can't complain though because in 23 days - I am flying to the land of Hawaii!

Well, actually I love bull riding when other people ride the animals.  So last night Candace and I went to our first ever Professional Bull Riding competition.  Talk about awesome.  We started the night off with dinner at Touche, a very good Italian restaurant in the Pearl District of Portland followed by some crazy parking in Powell's only to run across the street to get some gelato!  Amazing gelato - I felt as if I was right back in Italy if only it wasn't so cold!  Yes, we did decide to eat a very cold substance on the record-breaking-cold day in Portland...but its so good.  Anyway - back to the bulls.  I just love cowboys and everything about them.  The night started off with fireworks, prayers, and the National Anthem.  Just amazing.  The bull riding that followed was just great.  It started off a little slow but it sure picked up in the second half.  My new favorite cowboy is Shawn Waite from Redmond Oregon.  He wasn't even supposed to be in the competition but at the last second he got a call that one of the other cowboys was out and he could ride if he wanted.  Did he ever - he got 4th going into Saturday's final!  And he's cute to boot!  Also, we got to see Chris Shivers, Justin McBride and Adriano Moraes ride.  Those guys are amazing!  Only wish we could have gone to the Duke's after party - I bet it was a rip roaring good time.  I am definitely hooked on cowboys.

So to all you out there that still enjoy the holidays that get printed on every calendar and celebrated by Hallmark - Happy Valentine's Day!  I like the holiday because I would like to believe that everyone is a nice person that is inheritantly lazy.  Days like today are just enough of a nudge to get those lazy people to say all the nice things that are on the tip of their tongues to those around them.  Maybe I live in a fantasy world but that's what I like to believe.  I was the victim of a random act of kindness and found a small bag of candy from a nice "nut" in my mailbox at school.  It was very nice and unexpected.  I really don't think it is the cost of a gift but really, just the gesture.  The gesture that you have the power to make someone else happy and then you exercise that power.  This again is the reason I have had the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful arrangement of lilies, snapdragons, and gerber daisies.  These three flowers I would have never picked out together but the more I gaze over in their direction, I am really loving them together.  So I took some pictures - you can check them out in my pictures.  But, back to the point - the person who gave these to me did not expect any repayment and knew that they would make me very happy.  It was just a simple, innocent act o' kindness.  Also...lovin the Olympics.  I really don't have time to watch them but seriously, I just love the sports and the competition in the air.  I always like the stories about the athlete and where they are from and who their parents are and what makes them special, etc, etc.  I just want to be in Italy!!  One last thing - I am so excited about this Friday evening - I am going to the PBR in Portland! Bullriders getting thrown around, crazy people, wanna be cowboys, light beer, beef jerky - its gonna be great!

well, in a sense it is.  Just another day of the week that I get up, run, go to school hoping to retain most of it, eat something and then try not to fall asleep studying due to a lack of sleep.  Yet somehow, today is different.  Maybe it is this past week's experience but everything seemed a little bit better and brighter.  Driving my car, even sitting in class was different.  It seemed even my heart was beating a little more true.  Somehow, the most simple things I take for granted and I need to stop.  I need to learn to appreciate the normal, the everyday because I think if it was taken away, I wouldn't be me.  I don't think I want a white picket fence or anything, but I do like the normal routine.  Somehow it can calm my fears somedays.  Enought of the philosophical.  Good news on the horizon: I get to go eat at a favorite restaurant (Henry's!) with an old friend that I haven't seen for almost 2 years! She's back in town so Friday night here we come.  Bad news on the horizon: Case Analysis test in one week.  This class is not that exciting yet so important.  If I see a penny I am throwing it down a wishing well and passing that test is the wish - but shhhh don't tell because then it won't come true. Anywho - a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Ingrid - Have a great day on Saturday!  That's about it.  I want to end in a joke but I can't think of a single one - bummer.

Now I've been skiing for a lot of years but mainly only in Montana.  I mean, where else could the snow be any better?  I have yet to determine this fictional place but I did just get back from a pretty great ski weekend.  A bunch of us opt-ies went to Mt. Bachelor and Sunriver for the weekend.  The powder was amazing for Oregon.  Nice coverage although I did miss the blue sky of MT that is usual for skiing, I did manage to get some sweet runs.  I randomly ran into a couple people who turned out to be awesome skiiers so we spent the day together.  The evening was fun too because our condo had a very nice hottub - exactly what my burning muscles were craving.  Then off to a night of college fun with a long drive home.  Monday morning classes were not exactly where I wanted to be this morning but all went well.  P.S. check out my new pictures I posted from the weekend and its festivities.