Winter break (so far)

Hello blog-followers!
I thought I'd post an actual update since I'm on break and have time to do so. Man, first semester at med school went by like a blur! All the classes were very interesting and MOST of the professors were excellent teachers. There were definitely a fair share of not as exciting lecturers but that's bound to happen anywhere. I've been loving being able to practice the OMM (osteopathic manipulative medicine) that I've learned, giving treatments to friends and family. I'm glad that I ended up at an osteopathic (DO) school, even if that means I'm not in Chicago. Besides, I've met so many wonderful people in Des Moines (or DSM, as the cool kids call it) that it's letting me love being in DSM. I'm even excited for starting new classes in the upcoming semester (ask me how excited I am about those classes about a month from now).


Let me tell you about what I've been doing over break!
The first thing I did was go out for my birthday. The evening started out with some ice skating at the Rink at Wrigley. Dylan bought me ice skates for my birthday so I had my own to wear. After a few hours of skating and a cup of free hot cocoa, we went to nearby bars for some cocktails where more people met up with us. It was so great seeing so many people right when I got home :)

The next day (Saturday-17th), Dylan and I went to the Shedd Aquarium and saw the jellyfish exhibit (amongst other things)! I was super excited to go because we tried to go over thanksgiving break but the line was so long that we didn't want to wait. Plus, this time we were armed with a groupon that gave us two tickets for the price of one. The exhibit was definitely worth it (check out my facebook for some sweet pictures) and some of the other exhibits we saw were pretty cool too. In the evening, we went to Dylan's work holiday party. We both love getting all dressed up so we had fun coordinating our outfits to their holiday splendor. We had free food, free drinks and great company- what more could we ask for? Dancing? Not to worry because we went to a little place to dance for an afterparty!

Sunday (18th), I played goaltimate with Dylan and the usual crowd. It was super muddy and my cleats were CAKED in mud. Half way through goalty time, Melissa arrived from MI! We exchanged our Christmas presents right then and there (because you KNOW I was too excited to wait) and she loved her shirt from iheartguts.com. After goaltimate, Dylan took me out for my birthday dinner at Between which is a Peruvian restaurant in Wicker Park. He had found a groupon for it (he is sort of the king of groupons) and the food was phenomenal! We were blown away by each course and anticipated how amazing the next course would be.

On Monday, which was my actual birthday (19th), I met up with Melissa downtown at her hotel. She had cupcakes from sprinkles waiting for me and even had candles for me to make a birthday wish! What more could you ask for from a bestie? Then we attempted to go hot tubbing at her hotel but turns out it only has a pool and no hot tub. Sad panda. So we went to lunch (at Chipotle- where else would I go?) and then watched Love Actually. At dinner time, I cooked dinner for Dylan and his two roommates. We had linguine with creamy basil tomato sauce and meatballs, both things which I made from scratch! It turns out I quite like cooking. After dinner, Monty joined us at Dylan's apartment and instead of watching Elf as originally intended, we ended up putting together a 1000 piece puzzle. I LOVE puzzles! How fitting it was to do one on my birthday. It was a bit of a push to finish it in a timely manner (unlike the great puzzle-off of 2011; check facebook for pictures) but we got it done.

Tuesday (20th), Melissa and I met for brunch at Toast and I had a delicious omlette with bacon, gruyere, onions and chives along with some tasty pancakes. I love breakfast food so much! After a lengthy meal, we had to part our ways which was sad but I know we'll see each other again, at the latest by this summer. In the evening, I met up with Brian Bamberger, Megan Gruber, the Kramers and Dylan for the Do-It-Yourself Messiah at Harris Theater. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a performance of the Handel's Messiah where there is an orchestra and the four soloists on stage and then the audience sings the part of the chorus. I know- super dorky, super me. This is my third consecutive year in attendance and I plan on keeping this annual tradition. We had so much fun singing (and not singing during the difficult passes) and just being goofy as we're apt to be when we get this bunch of people together.

Wednesday (21st) I had lunch with one of my old co-workers Ramina. We went to Portillo's (I always forget how much I love Portillo's until I have it again) and then we did some shopping at Marshall's afterward. I bought some clothes for Dylan for the first time which is sort of a big deal just because he is so picky but he ended up liking 3 of the 4 things I bought. I'd consider that a successful trip! I ended up cooking dinner for Dylan again and this time I made some Korean food which was a big hit! He especially loved the fried tofu with the spicy soy sauce and green onions on top.

Thursday (22nd) I met Kris for dinner at one of our favorite spots- Cozy. We love their pad thai (of course we get the same thing every time) and their decorations are so cute! Their walls are filled with retro/throwback toys and posters. We are always so ridiculous when we're together and I love it!

Friday (23rd) was a pretty low key day. I had dinner with my family at home (shocking, I know) and went to bed early. I needed that after having way too much fun in the week leading up to it. I also enjoyed doing several loads of free laundry. Oh, the luxuries.

Saturday (24th) I brought lunch to my dear boyfriend who had to be on call on Christmas eve. We had some Jimmy Johns (super classy) and hung out, luckily no calls came in. Then I had my fateful reunion with the elusive Meg Ray who was home from San Diego! We got some coffee/ice cream at Dunkin Robbins and then went to one of our favorite spots- DSW. I ended up getting some sperry-like moccasin type shoes, which I've been hunting down for a long time now. For dinner, my family went to our favorite Chinese restaurant where we all ordered our "usuals" and I ate way too much (also as usual). Then we went to mass at 9pm where I ran into some of my favorite SPYGers that I now only get to see at times such as Christmas mass. When did we get so old and so spread out all over the place??

Sunday (25th- Christmas) my parents had people over for a Christmas/birthday party. My dad's birthday is the 27th and my mom's is the 28th (which is today! Happy birthday mom!) so they usually have a combo party like they did this year. Our family doesn't really do a big family oriented Christmas affair (minus midnight mass) so I was able to escape to Dylan's place. I was glad I could spend time with him on Christmas since he wasn't able to fly home (because of work on Christmas eve) and if I hadn't been there, he would have been alone on Christmas! That would be unacceptable. Anyway, we ended up going ice skating at Millenium Park, which is the only Chicago rink open on Christmas day, for those of you who are wondering. It was fairly crowded but Dylan took me by the hand and helped me weave through the people. Afterward, we wanted to go somewhere to eat but all the restaurants were closed so we decided to drive around until we saw one that was open. On the way back toward his place, we happened upon this little Mediterranean restaurant called Ameer Kabob which was super tasty, especially for the price. I had some scrumptious chicken and rice and Dylan had a falafel sandwich (and something else, I don't remember). So tasty.

On Monday (26th) I met up with Dylan early and he made me his famous big pancake for brunch (it's sort of like a German pancake, I think) and then we played goaltimate again. This time it was at a different park than the one at which I've played the most but I had been there before when I went to goaltimate for the very first time and I was just a spectator. It was kind of nostalgic to be back there except this time I was playing (and pretty well, I might add- minus the fact that I was coughing up half my lungs). After goaltimate, I headed home to shower and then my family went out to dinner for my parents' birthdays at Todai, which is a sushi buffet at Woodfield mall (for those of you unfamiliar with the amazingness that is Todai). Again, ate too much but then afterward, the men and women split up and went shopping. My mom wanted to buy a fancy dress so we went to Macy's and I helped her find some dresses. While she was trying on the first armful, I found the perfect dress and she absolutely loved it! There's nothing more gratifying than going shopping for something specific you have in mind and finding that exact item to match your imagination. Also, my brother and mom got iphones which is very exciting. My brother's been dying for a smartphone ever since I got mine back in March (I convinced my parents that I NEEDED one for med school...) and my mom (and dad) have been taking computer classes at church and they also taught them how to use smart phones so of course then my mom wanted one. We figured out that my mom could have her phone be in Korean and she is super excited that she can text me in Korean now. It's the little things in life, you know?

Yesterday (27th) was a busy busy day. First I met up with Larry Brown to have lunch. We went to this place called Aurelio's which is a homey pizza parlor type place. Afterward, I went to the Foege's house for their yearly turducken party and managed to find room for more food. Linnea and Amelia were being adorable as usual. I can't believe how big those girls are getting! Linnea is talking up a storm and Amelia is running around and getting into lots of trouble. Then I headed home for dinner with my parents (yes, more food). I don't know how I managed to eat any more but I did. After dinner, I went downtown to see Mike, Julie and Marina- who was visiting from Iowa City. Mike had to leave early since he had to get up early for work but that was totally fine because that left the TREE girls to have our girl time :) I can't believe that we've been friends for 15 years! Has it really been that long? Are we really that old?! Sheesh, time flies. It seems like just yesterday when we were "playing Buffy" in the hallways at Glen Grove.

Today is going to be another busy day too. I'm having lunch with Jill Smialek who I haven't seen in forever and then having coffee with Katie Frederickson, who I also haven't seen in forever. Then I'm going to Walker Brothers for dinner with some of my favorite ex-coworkers from Highland Park Hospital! I can't wait to see you all!

I'm so glad I've been able to see so many people over break so far and I know I will be able to squeeze in a few more before it's over. I know I'm not looking forward to the day when I won't be getting "breaks" anymore and I will have to find time to see all these people somehow without binging on friend-catch-ups. Until then, I'm most definitely going to enjoy it while I can. I hope you all enjoyed my super long blog entry after the sparseness from the past few months!

quick update

• med school has kicked in full force
• made lots of new friends
• found a great church to go to
• still playing lots of volleyball (and ultimate frisbee now too)
• still dating dylan. long distance sucks :(
• miss you all!

My last free summer

Last Thursday was my last day of work at the hospital. I decided to give myself the summer off so I can enjoy my time before selling my soul to medical school (and for those of you who are wondering, I still haven't heard from Loyola yet so it is yet to be decided where I will be). My plan for the summer is to play volleyball, hang out with my mamsters as much as I can before they go to their respective med schools, see Dylan as much as his ultimate schedule allows, and do some last minute things to get ready for school. But I will still have tons of free time, especially during the day so if you don't work over the summer or you're on break from school, hit me up so we can hang out. I can't believe school starts in two months. Crap. I hope everyone is enjoying our summer weather that finally decided to arrive (and in full force no less).

volleyball and stuff

Hey bloggerinos!
It's been a while, hasn't it? It feels like it has been anyway. Let me tell you about my life as of late.

At the beginning of March, I played in a volleyball tournament that my friend Bryan organized and ever since then, I've been playing a lot more. I play on Tuesdays at an open gym in Elk Grove and on Thursdays in Palatine and I played in another tournament the first Saturday of April. The best part about volleyball culture is you play with these people who are complete strangers at the beginning of the night and then you are bffs by the end of the night. I love making new friends and inadvertently losing a bunch of weight. So much so that my pants are fitting more loosely and I'm considering having my mom take in some of them. And the other day, when I was trying on my summer dresses for fun, I realized they are loose on me too. So of course I went shopping and tried on a bunch of dresses in a size smaller and they fit! Aaaand I bought one. Even though my closet is full of dresses. But this dress was the prettiest kelly green and it's Calvin Klein and it's like they're making dresses for ME. I love love love all their silhouettes. It'll be perfect for Easter Vigil (which I'll be spending in Champaign- be excited, Chambana dwellers!). 

Anyway, I digress. So I love volleyball and I'm so glad I got back into it. Nothing like the rush of digging a huge hit or hitting over a tall blocker (on a MEN's net no less).

On another note, you know how you hear about a guy and a girl who met at a bar and something actually worked out? Or maybe you've seen it in a movie, I don't know. Regardless, my friend Melissa and I were out at a bar a few weeks ago and I sort of met this guy...and who knows where things will go but all I know is we get along fantastically and enjoy each other's company a lot. It's exciting to like someone again- I forgot what it felt like to meet someone new and want to get to know every little thing about them. And for all you skeptics that don't think it's okay to date someone you meet at a bar, let's put things into perspective. I believe I am a good person and I go out to bars. Why is it hard to believe that someone you meet at a bar isn't also the same way? And to the other skeptics (or maybe you're both kinds) who don't think it is right to even consider dating someone who is not Catholic, I say why not? I realize that if I want to have a Catholic family and raise my future children to be Catholic, it would be ideal to have both parents be Catholic. And I do still want that. But what I'm doing now is living in the present and seizing the day. I love this quote by Thomas Merton that I have on my facebook profile "You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope."

I know it sounds like I'm being defensive even before anyone has said anything but I have a feeling these are some of the challenges I have awaiting me so I decided to take them head on and think them through for myself first. I'm happy and I think that is important. I hope all of you are having a fruitful lent and are prayerfully anticipating the day when He is risen!!

The Transfiguration..and an update

Just a quick little thought on this past Sunday's gospel. I always loved the transfiguration but never really thought about it in relation to my own life. I feel like the disciples who say, this is a good thing- let's stay here. I've found my happy place in terms of my faith but I needed that reminder that I need to go down that mountain, get out of my comfort zone and spread the Good News.

In med school news, I got waitlisted at Loyola and I won't hear back from them until 5/15. I also had an interview at University of Toledo last Monday so who knows what will happen. Also, the rejection emails have been trickling in- Vtech and SLU were the most recent. Who needs them anyway!? Please pray that the admissions committee at Loyola will accept me on 5/15!

no love from Rush

Yesterday, I received a pdf rejection letter from Rush Medical College. Hmph. I didn't like them very much anyway.

On a related note, Loyola has their admissions committee meeting on Monday so please pray for me that they will accept me!