This week..

-- we're loving the small-town life! We love how our friends spontaneously stop over and how we can sit at the downtown coffee shop on a Saturday morning, catch up with other friends, then stop in a boutique for some shopping before walking home. Grandma and Grandpa had to reschedule their visit so our weekend turned in to a great time to reorganize Elle's room (didn't we just pull out all the clothes she outgrew?!) and plan for the upcoming week. We've been doing Bountiful Baskets for a lot of our produce so it's a fun challenge to plan our menu's around whatever we receive. This morning we had fresh-squeezed juice from the oranges and tangelos!

-- we've had a fair amount of snow. For now, we tradeoff shoveling our driveway (our friends & neighbors tease us because it has to be over 40 yards long..). We've been watching everyone else's solutions ranging from paying for snow removal to tractors/four-wheelers with blades to snowblowers. We've been super indecisive so for this season we will continue with the good-ole-fashioned shovel. It's not all bad to throw on some headphones and listen to a podcast while you scoop.. but it is a problem if you need to be somewhere quick!

xo,

Krista

HO3-- WEEK 8

Total Solar Eclipse at Stuhr Museum
(first photo is not edited - that was the view with the eclipse glasses during totality!)

Pentatonix @ the Nebraska State Fair

This week..

-- was packed with fun! Grand Island fell in the path of totality for the total solar eclipse - so we joined thousands of other people from all over the world on the local museum grounds to watch the event. They opened hundreds of acres of land to everyone for viewing and had an area set up with food trucks and special presentations. NASA was also there launching weather balloons for monitoring. We found a partially-isolated spot in the prairie for our chairs and blanket. The weather was perfect - there were a few clouds but they did not obstruct the view. We wore the appropriate glasses and were both surprised how it seemed to stay totally bright out until the total eclipse. The light then quickly faded to twilight and the crowd all gasped and cheered. We had almost two minutes of twilight with planets visible, a 360 degree sunset on the horizon, a brisk decrease in temperature, and lots of crickets chirping! The sunlight then spread back across the sky over seconds-minutes in what looked like an accelerate sunrise. It was a beautiful event to witness! We spoke with travelers from as far as Norway and many from surrounding states such as Minnesota. We were lucky we only had to travel a few blocks from home (though that did take 45 minutes in all the traffic!).
-- another highlight of the week was the Pentatonix concert at the State Fair! One of my fellow acapella friends from high school (she was also my college roommate!) snagged us tickets when they first went on sale this winter and they did not disappoint! We spent all day livin' it up at the fair (so many rounds of fried food! motorcycles! bmx! high-diving! volleyball! llamas! livestock!) and ended the night with the concert. Us the Duo opened for them and then Pentatonix played a 1.5 hour set. The crowd was pretty electric which led to an even better show! After we wound our way out of the parking lot and a few blocks down the street to our townhouse in Grand Island, we bailed to Holdrege to spend the night. Our friends spoiled us by cooking us pancakes + eggs + bacon for breakfast and we spent the morning chilling out on the front porch. We don't get to see these friends enough since moving from Omaha! What a treat!
-- we were also at the State Fair on Friday night with my coworkers for the Draft Horse Show. It really is impressive to see these giant work horses and the strict obedience they have for their owners. They not only compete in many different hitch arrangements, they always have a professional demonstration that is seriously amazing. Theses animals can work in nearly perfect synchronization and precision. We ended the night by hanging out with friends outside the concert grounds during Brad Paisley's set (we were about 100 yards from stage right and had a perfect view of him on stage!). I think we've had our fix of food truck/fair food for a while!

xo,
Krista

HO3-- WEEK 6

The only picture from our day at the lake
(you know you're in good company when you don't think about taking photos)

This week..

-- we spent Saturday night with good friends at their family's lake house. The weather was beautiful. We spent some time on the beach and even more time cruising in their boat. They are friends who also appreciate good food so we had a delicious meal finished with dessert to celebrate a birthday! (We brought the Chantilly cake from Whole Foods - if you're looking for a non-chocolate dessert I recommend it!)  Is there anything better than time with great friends?!
-- we got to briefly talk to my little brother on FaceTime. Did I tell you he is no longer in L.A.? He moved to Hawaii! It's so fun to see the adventures my siblings are creating! The best part of errands & events in Omaha is that we typically crash with my parent's on Friday night. We relaxed on their deck, checked out the newest projects at their house, and I complained about taxes (T confirmed our tax rate next year and since I'm considered a contractor we will pay >50%. Barf!) They also introduced us to their new favorite ice cream which is poor timing as I've been trying to improve my diet (fast-food is way to convenient in this city!). And bonus! We were with them when my brother called! A 5-hour time difference is a little difficult.. just sayin'.
-- the appliances were delivered to the new house! Yay! Now you don't have to hear my chatter about them any longer! Yes - it felt like Christmas. Yes - I did stand in the laundry room for the whole first cycle expecting a hose to fly off the back and the room to flood. Yes - I am completely impressed with the advancements in technology and the thousand features. And yes - it is amazing to have a perfectly clean, empty fridge.

xo,
Krista

HO2-- WEEK 55

T's current view

This week..
-- I am going to keep this short and sweet because my fingers/wrists/everything are sore from a mammoth weed-pulling session this evening against our zombie weeds in our backyard. Let's just say the ground in Holdrege is fertile. Seriously, we had spurge so large that I had to fold it in fourths in order to fit it in the yard waste bag (fun fact: I just had to google pictures to learn its name!). The weeds were so developed I almost felt bad pulling them. BUT, I am proud to say that our previously dirt backyard is now back to mostly dirt! #cantwaittoplantgrassnextsummer
-- T was sent to Florida by Raymond James (the broker he works through at First National). He says he is learning a lot and enjoying his time out there (who doesn't love being minutes from the beach!). They've kept him pretty busy learning mostly about managing customers (I'm not sure they talked financials at all which is super interesting but makes sense..). This weekend, between working with his group on their capstone project, he spent some time on the beach and grilling-out with new friends (who are also Raymond James Financial Advisors but work in other parts of the US).
-- I can't end this blog post without journaling that it was a busy but awesome week filled with evening-fun like dinner with one of my oldest friends, a graduation Luau for the seniors at church, and a final dinner/banquet for our graduating residents. The week sure went fast!

xo,
Krista

HOI-- WEEK 31

- night w/ friends -

This week we..
-- continued the annual tradition of fondue & board games on NYE with the family! This year we tried a few different broth recipes for the steak and two different cheeses - everything was delicious! T and I are totally on board with the "staying in is the new going out" mantra...
-- enjoyed a chill weekend including time with "the group" from medical school! We grabbed takeout from our favorite Indian place (Mother India), swapped residency stories, and played a few board games. It was fun to have everyone back together! We later ditched the boys for a baby shower - so exciting!
-- escaped to the cabin for an afternoon bonfire and some time on the ATV. Except for one little incident when R got stranded.. and the other little incident where R tipped the ATV over with him & S on board.. it was a wonderful afternoon! But seriously, we had a blast pegging each other with snowballs and hanging by the fire. We're going to miss living so close to the cabin!

xo,
Krista

HOI-- WEEK 13

R & I definitely look like siblings in this picture..
No fooling anyone!

This week I..

-- spent an afternoon watching my brother dance dance at a gig at UNMC. I even bribed him to spend a few minutes at my house for dinner with my friends afterward. Our paths don't cross frequently enough!
-- attended a conference on breastfeeding and co-sleeping. The majority of my current practice (and likely also my future practice!) is women and children so I plan to continue to seek extra training in breastfeeding so I can be a strong support to my patients. The conference was extra awesome because it meant I got to spend the day with one of my good friends and co-residents! They did a good job focusing on all the non-nutritional benefits of breastfeeding which I appreciated. The human body is amazing!
-- did some social nearly every night in anticipation of a hectic schedule next month: we had a girls night where we shared a crepe bar, another girls event where we sampled foods from different countries where friends have lived, and had two sets of friends over for dinner (including grilling out behind our townhouse with friends- the weather is starting to feel like fall!). We also met my parents (and bonus, some friends too!) for one of the last outdoor concerts of the summer at Aksarben. Jones Brother Cupcakes has a stand where they sell delicious cheeseburgers with homemade chips. I highly recommend treating  yourself.
--  had some late nights/early mornings with OB but I'm sure going to miss it when I switch back to a normal hospital rotation next month. I LOVE OB, especially when it's convenient and not pulling me off my other rotations (which is super stressful!). I can't wait to be through with training so I can balance my practice per my preferences (heavy in women & children!).
-- am crunching the numbers to see what the budget will allow for a new car. My trusty '94 Honda Civic was not so trusty this week when the brakes repeatedly failed me. YIKES. I'm breaking up with her and in the market for another small (more reliable and safe!) car. Anyone looking to sell one?

xo,
Krista

HOI-- WEEK 10

One of the many texts I received from T of his delicious meals in Des Moines

This week I...

-- was super excited when T to got home from his business trip! He's always my favorite part of my day. He enjoyed the week in Des Moines and was totally spoiled eating out every meal. Maybe next time I can go with!

-- started looking at potential cities in Nebraska to settle after residency. It started as a fun game but then got too stressful and serious. We are back to just staying in the moment and worrying about jobs and houses later..
-- loved being able to grab a few dinners with my family! My brother and I snuck over to a Papillion favorite, Ming's, and I crashed a few family dinners during the week. It's such a treat to be home before 8/9pm! I will definitely have some sleepless nights this month on Labor and Delivery but hopefully I can balance it with more time with the people who matter most.

-- enjoyed a girl's weekend at a lake house in celebration of an upcoming wedding! I tried paddle-boarding for the first time and only biffed it when I then tried some yoga poses. I would love it if T and I could have a waterfront property someday..

-- participated in a Google Chat call between various groups of Karen people in the U.S. that are members of our church. It made me reflect that between all the drama & danger that technology shares, it also accomplishes so much good!

-- enjoyed multiple consecutive full nights of sleep. Can't celebrate that one too much!

xo,
Krista

SI-- WEEK FORTY FOUR

I can officially say I am "done with school" -- though that statement does not feel real. Besides a couple quick clinics in May to see my pregnant ladies (which are always fun visits anyway) I am on vacation! I jumped right into it with a trip to South Dakota for a relay marathon with friends from my class.

It was the perfect weekend! The weather was BEAUTIFUL. We were a group of 12 with 5 people running as team, "We'd Rather Be Running a Code". Obviously the team name was submitted by the future ER doc of the group -- the future psychiatrists and neurologists definitely did not agree.  Although the trip was too short, it was pretty close to perfect.  Here is the whole group at the finish line:

The "Jery Head" was a hilarious surprise

Yes, we were definitely those people with obnoxious neon signs. We were also those people who cheered at the handoffs, out the car window alongside the runners, and at multiple stops in each person's route. We had a blast running around the city cheering each other on! The "Jery Head" was a total joke - but it was actually really helpful at handoffs so our runner could see exactly where to meet the next runner.

Note my sign AND our teammates running beside our runner cheering him on

To end the relay, the rest of the team jumped in with our final runner:

And we were the 1st place Co-ed team!

I have never been at the finish line of a marathon but I really enjoyed hearing the little blurb they announced about each runner. This race is a Boston-qualifier so there were some really legit runners. Many people included in their bios that they were running the Lincoln marathon the next day! Yikes. One young girl announced she was working to complete a marathon in every state. I don't know how other courses compare, but Brookings had a nice mix of scenery for the runners (downtown, suburb, and wooded trails). 

It was the perfect trip to cap off medical school. We had lots of time for good conversation on the drive to & from Brookings and we laughed a ton. It's so bittersweet to be at this stage because many friends will be moving in the next few weeks. BUT, until then, we'll celebrate! 

This next week is totally stacked with catching up with friends and preparing for graduation next weekend. I've already received a few cards addressed to Krista Stoecker, M.D. Totally wild! Have a great week.

xo,

Krista

MATCH DAY

This weekend was FANTASTIC. I intended to spend a decent chunk of today writing an epic blog post about all the fun - but life happened. You all understand that, right? Instead of spending time isolated in my office composing the perfect post (what I would consider a good activity)  I chose what I would consider better activities and enjoyed quality time with friends and spent my evening volunteering/helping friends in my neighborhood who are going through tough stuff. I love that I've had this blog as a journal of the roller coaster called Medical School but I never want to miss out on experiences because of it.

Let's chat about MATCH DAY! First, to summarize, the day was fabulous. Being in an untraditional program, I wasn't sure how it would feel. I couldn't relate to my classmates who truly were surprised to see what program was tucked in their envelope. I'm getting ahead of myself.. let me explain the day..

The ceremony started with refreshments at 10am. There are four of us in my class that are especially close - so we made sure to arrive early enough that we could grab seats together. The ceremony started with a few words from the important people of our medical school. Then, we were all invited to come up to the stage to get our envelopes -- but we weren't to open them yet. Many schools have their ceremonies with each student opening their envelope onstage in front of the audience, but at ours, we had a few minutes to open our envelopes in our seats before heading up on stage to share with everyone where we were headed.

(Our families were like paparazzi.. so excuse the lack of camera coordination)

Three of us opened our envelopes and celebrated staying together in Omaha a little while longer (though in different specialties: Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Psychiatry). The fourth friend peeked at her residency but made her husband, family, and us friends wait until she was onstage to announce her program.

My name was called probably about half-way through the ceremony. T and I walked up to the stage to the chorus of Michael Bublé's "It's a Beautiful Day" (this song from 1:19-1:45ish). Then I announced to the audience something like: "I'm Krista Stoecker and this is my husband Travis. I am in the Primary Care program and we are very excited to complete my Family Medicine training in Grand Island, NE". 

Photo credit: UNMC photographer

There were a variety of announcements from simple, serious explanations to athletic references like "I'm taking my talents to ____" (then they put on that schools hat). A few students (like my friend I mentioned before) waited until the were onstage to open their envelope. Others turned around a took a selfie with the crowd in the background or brought a family member onstage via Skype.  After you made your announcement, you placed a dollar in the basket (the last person announced gets the cash as traditionally that meant they were the last person to find out where they were headed next year), placed your pin on the map, and were given a glass of bubbly.  It was really fun to hear all the different specialties and training sites! If you want to see pictures of the other students in my class, you can see the school's pictures from the day here.

I think my favorite part of the day was simply the time I spent with my parents before the ceremony and afterwards at lunch. Time just the three of us is so rare and so wonderful!

After lunch, my mom and I snuck over to the outlet malls to shop for some clothes we've both been thinking about for our trip to Europe! Then Friday night our class had a party at 1316 with drinks/appetizers/photobooth/DJ.. but my favorite part was spending time out on the deck chillin' with our good friends:

That was all Friday -- I haven't told you about all the fun from Saturday and Sunday! But I have to get to bed.. so I'm forced to just leave you with a photo collage:

(1) can you believe that beautiful woman turned 92?!
(2) the cabin is extra beautiful this time of year with no mosquitos or humidity!

This week I am going to try to do it all.. I have another long shift on Tuesday and Saturday so I'm going to make the most of the hours when I am away from the hospital. Life is beautiful :) Love you all and hope you have a fabulous week! Thanks for you all your love and support on Match Day!

xo,

Krista

SI-- WEEK THIRTY FIVE

February was such an awesome month! It felt so good to have time away from work to pursue some other passions. T and I volunteered of lot of time this month working with the full-time missionaries of our church (including keeping them well-fed!). People laugh when I explain how rewarding the work is - they laugh because they ask why working in a hospital all day isn't enough service to "get my fill"? I always answer - you can never do enough! T and I are happiest when we aren't focused on ourselves and are instead helping others. We have plenty of time in the future to be selfish... right?

This week in school I had a few memorable lectures:
+ I gained a lot of insight during an Intimate Partner Violence workshop -- it's one of those subjects you wished you could ignore because it's horrific but unfortunately it's some people's reality! It broke my heart to learn that Douglas county issues 300-400 protection orders each month. We also learned how difficult it is to prosecute abusers and how our medical record can be one of the very important pieces to the trial. For example, you can quote patients in the medical record and that can be read in court and not considered hearsay -- that's huge! It really made me think twice about if I am screening enough patients for these safety concerns and if my documentation whether my documentation would be helpful if it were to be used in court..

+ My favorite lecture of the week was 3 hours of less-than-thrilling material that ended with an hour Q&A of the physician that runs our Biocontaiment Unit. It was fascinating to hear how the unit came to be and all the logistics of treating our 3 patients (so far!) with Ebola. The team of healthcare workers that run the unit are incredibly well trained and have been completing quarterly drills for 10 years(!) before the unit ever had a patient that necessitated it's use. I loved hearing about the logistics of caring for these patients - including the changes they made to the unit between patients. You would expect that the workers would have taken much-needed breaks between patients but instead they worked to create a lab within the unit and develop a process to be able to offer dialysis. Amazing people! The most shocking statistic of the session was the amount of waste that was created per patient per day -- about 1,000 pounds! That is all the of personal protective gear, bed sheets, hospital gowns, etc. All of that wasted has to be disinfected before it leaves the hospital so they are run it through an autoclave before it goes to a specialized waste facility. It's actually the limiting factor to how many patients our unit can handle at one time --> there are 10 rooms in the unit but 1,000 pounds of waste takes 12 hours to autoclave.. so we can only really handle 2 patients with Ebola at one time. Who would have thought that trash would be the issue?!

Let's end  this with some pictures! T and I spent our Saturday night with medical school friends at a wedding reception. Our friends had a destination wedding (unfortunately we couldn't afford to join them!) and then finished the celebration this weekend at Blue Sushi:

Now it's back to reality with a couple busy months ahead! For the next month I'll be in the Intensive Care Unit at the VA. I have a lot to learn about critical care so this will be a good month. It will also be a tiring month as I will have those long overnight shifts "q4" aka every 4th night. Not fun. BUT, in better news, I get to wear scrubs to work everyday! That gives me a solid 10 extra minutes of sleep each morning which is much appreciated :) Love you all! 

xo,

Krista

SI -- WEEK THIRTY FOUR

Ohhhh.. what to chat about? I feel like this blog has been pretty dry for a few weeks now. I promise that there will eventually be more pretty pictures and fun stories! Someday!

IN SCHOOL...
this week we spent the majority of the week reviewing "emergent problems". Many specialists each presented an hour lecture reviewing the most "emergent" problems in their field (cardiology, endocrinology, neurology, gastroenterology..) and how to stabilize and/or treat the conditions -- at least until the specialist arrives! I definitely took a few notes to be sure I had the information readily accessible (though it is all easily available via other references). We also had a very eye-opening afternoon about medical malpractice. The statistic is that 80% of physicians will be sued at some point in their career. YIKES. The reality is that all physicians are human and will make mistakes - but the attorney shared with us the reasons people gave for NOT suing even when they felt they were wronged. Those reasons highlighted the important of good relationships with patients and showing that you care. We've also been told that people report suing because they feel information is being withheld and it's the only way to get the "whole story". It was a fascinating lecture! Obstetrics will definitely be the riskiest part of my future practice.. and the statue of limitation is 21+2 years for pediatrics in Nebraska. So that leaves a lot of time for someone to decide that they want to file a lawsuit! I am so thankful that I am receiving my training at such a top-notch school!


FOR FUN..
We had a few fun "dinner dates" with friends/family:
+ We had some of our medical school friends over to celebrate a birthday
+ My parents joined us for dinner and more Europe trip planning! We booked hotels -- yay!
+ All the women at our church got together for a dinner (and I now have a delicious new salad recipe!)
+ We also enjoyed dinner and chatter with some new friends in our neighborhood

Finally, my mom and I went to see Celtic Thunder at the Orpheum. Celtic Thunder is the Irish group that you may have seen on PBS. They are crazy talented vocalists who sang everything from Irish folk music to contemporary ballads. They were accompanied by a 7 piece band including a violin, cello, harp and someone who played a variety of more traditional instruments (flutes/whistles, bag pipes, bodhran etc). The crowd was hilarious - the theater was packed with middle age -> geriatric women who screamed at everything. These women were serious fans. They also clapped along with any song with a tempo > about 60. The audience also included men of various ages/sizes in kilts. Quite the show. My only complaint is that the set was a little theatrical for my taste.  For example, at one point there was a soloist stand atop the fake rock risers while dry ice poured down the steps and video of grass blowing showed on the screen behind him. Not to mention, the set has rails and sails in the background to depict a wrecked ship. A little over-the-top for my taste. I would have preferred the guys simple sitting on barstools letting the music speak for itself.

An example of the dramatic set..

February has been so good to us! It is going to be really hard to jump back into the next two crazy months at work.. One more week to live it up and enjoy time together!

xo,

Krista

SI-- WEEK TWENTY

This post is written with heavy eye-lids because I just returned from a Girl's Weekend to celebrate my med school friend's wedding! I doubt you really care about the details but I'll show you the highlights...

We started here in Omaha by all crashing at one of our homes Friday night. Of course, we included a fair amount of themed games/activities:

After a late night of girl talk, we packed up our gear and headed to Des Moines for a night out! The snow made our travel a little longer than expected.. but we made it our next stop - the winery for a painting class! Sitting on my side of the table was a beautiful view of the snow falling out over the vineyard with lighted wreaths hanging about each window. I regret not taking a picture because it really was gorgeous.

My painting! It was so much harder than I expected!

The lovely ladies in our group! If anyone would like a lovely
painting hanging in their home I would be happy to gift it to you ;)

I have fewer pictures to share from the rest of the night... we headed to the hotel (where all 7 of us shared a suite!) to get gussied up with our free drinks from the hotel happy hour. We passed on the hotdogs and chili that was offered (who has a hotdog buffet with happy hour? totally bizarre! The senior citizens on the tour bus were totally loving it. So I guess there's that...) After we were all dressed, we grabbed dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby before spending the night at a Dueling Piano Bar. Our hotel was perfect because it was walking distance to everything! We had a lot of attention at Dueling Pianos -- partly because there is a bidding war to decide what college football team the bar will support for the night. Well.. we were very enthusiastic for Nebraska (despite the ugly, ugly loss earlier that day!). The Cyclone and Hawkeye fans were not pleased - but the "saying of the night" was consistently GO BIG RED. Everyone once in a while people would pay to change it.. but there were a couple guys who kept it GBR for us :) We contributed exactly zero of our own dollars to this competition. The Husker fight song was also played multiple times with our enthusiastic support on stage each time. Nebraska has the best fans in the nation, right?! And yes, the bride-to-be was definitely embarrassed onstage per the request of her future in-laws. So fun!

Tonight I'll be super appreciative of sleeping in my own bed. This week is going to be busy with preparing for my board examination that I take next week. This weekend was my last hurrah until that is over! I'll spend most days this week at the hospital in radiology lectures with my own clinic on Monday and Wednesday afternoon. This is already my last week of Radiology! Time sure flies! Friday morning I'll take my final exam and then Friday afternoon I interview in Grand Island. Wish me luck!

xo,

Krista

SI-- WEEK THIRTEEN

We are having a great weekend because this is my "golden weekend" meaning I had both Saturday AND Sunday off work! I only had 4 days off of work this month and having two in a row is amazing.

This week started with a date night to Kona Grill at Village Pointe. I convinced T to go halfsies on a burger & salad and we sat outside on their patio in the perfect fall weather. After dinner we had a Genius Bar appointment at the Apple Store to get a recalled button on T's iPhone fixed so that it would be eligible for trade-in. We wanted to get new iPhones as they are currently running a promotion where they are no-cost when you recycle an old iPhone - but the Apple Store was totally sold out. Turns out the guy at the Genius Bar was able to pull a few strings and we walked out with two new iPhones! We were super excited to take advantage of the promotion and to not have to battle the crowds when they are back in stock :)

I snapped this picture as we were strolling back to our car - the camera on the phone does not disappoint! 

Saturday morning we met my parents for brunch somewhere we hadn't eaten before - First Watch. I have no pictures of people.. only food:

We then headed to Lincoln to celebrate T's cousin's birthday. J is such a cute kid - we loved celebrating him! Life is pretty good at 2 years old:

To make this weekend even better, we were offered a set of Husker tickets! It took some quick thinking to make it work (we were already in Lincoln, T's mom rode with us and had to be back in Omaha that evening, we weren't dressed in red, etc). I borrowed a Husker shirt, T dropped me off at the tailgate, he drove back to Omaha, his mom gave him a jersey, and then he drove back to Lincoln again! Busy afternoon! The weather was absolutely perfect for a football game -- 70s at kickoff and just a touch chilly when the game ended at midnight. 

(not my picture)

Finally, we debuted the new pizza stone for our grill with dinner tonight. I had green onion brat + green pepper + red onion+ basil + fresh mozzarella. T recreated one of his favorite pizzas - 2 Peps (pepperoni + pepperoncini peppers). I've been craving vegetables after many, many cafeteria meals at work!

I have two days left at the VA then I move over to Bellevue Medical Center for OB. Just a little bit of a switch... 

xo,

Krista

SI -- WEEK FOUR

T and I had another good week - no complaints here! Today I stayed extra busy with church so this post will be a short (but sweet!) recap of the week...

+ I am now certified to help babies, kids, pregnant ladies, and adults who are "trying to die". In other words, I am now ACLS, ALSO, NRP, and PALS certified. As one of my coworkers posted on Facebook, "I dare someone to try and die in front of me!". I'm just enough superstitious to not dare say that out-loud.. but it did make me chuckle.

An example of one of the algorithms we were tested on

+ The favorite recipe of the week was these enchiladas. So delicious and so not healthy! I'll probably post them again as a separate post so that I can make a link to them from our "Recipes" page:

+ The girls of my neighborhood started an official monthly "girls night". This month we met at Delice in Midtown and then took a quick stroll through Jazz on the Green. Here's a quick shot of most of this month's gang:

+ The most exciting news of the week is that T and I put a down-payment on a vacation to celebrate my graduation next May! We've struggled with whether we can afford another big vacation -- but we finally decided that this will likely be the only time for many many years that we can both take an extended leave from work (I get the entire month of May off!). So we are going to snatch that time and cross the Atlantic Ocean together. More details to come..

Hope you have a fabulous upcoming week! T just told me the weather is supposed to be gorgeous - so I hope you have a chance to enjoy it! Love you all!

xo,

Krista

SI-- WEEK ONE

Well, I survived my first week with my new title -- Sub-I! I was actually really blessed with pediatric clinic as my first rotation. Many of my friends in the program started by working really long (stressful) hours at the hospital. Instead, I'm working with super nice military families and doing healthy-kid school physicals. Instead of being on call on the Fourth of July, I had the day off (...and the weekend... And Monday). Plus, the military take super long lunch breaks which is amazing compared to the rushed, granola bar lunches I've become accustomed to. I'll have my turn at busy months.. But for now I am absolutely enjoying my time with T.

I took a selfie of my new long-coat per the request of my friends last week.. so I thought nothing of sending it to my mom when she asked for a picture as well. Then the thing went viral! Remind me next time to make sure the picture is at least in focus! I was floored that so many people took the time to look/comment on the picture. I had no idea so many people cared!

But enough of that. Let's talk about the holiday! We started celebrating the fourth of July with the College Home Run Derby (and the huge firework display after!) The weather was absolutely beautiful - it wasn't even humid! The guys also hit 100+ home runs which was fun to watch: 

We then spent the 4th at our good friend's lake house. It was a beautiful area with gorgeous homes! You know me.. I love home design! So I had a blast checking out all the fun architecture as we strolled around the lake on the boat or golf cart. Some people prefer people watching.. I prefer home watching :) It was also super fun to guess the profession of the owner of each home (many specialists and important business men!). While we girls were touring the area, the men kept busy with lawn games and fishing. T was the only one to catch anything - way to go babe! The night ended with a few professional firework shows (so much better than doing the work of lighting fireworks yourself!).

Unfortunately, I have no gorgeous pictures to share from the day. You see.. I clicked "update" on my iPhone this weekend.. and instead of updating my phone stalled halfway through and is now completely unusable - including the camera! It's been a nice break to be virtually uncontactable.. but I do regret not taking pictures this weekend! Just picture a group of amazing friends all having a blast at a lakehouse with the most perfect Nebraska weather anyone could ask for. Got it? Good. 

Finally, we wrapped up our weekend with T's family at the Amazing Pizza Machine. We enjoyed the arcade, go karts, bumper cars, and of course, the buffet! I do have a picture of T and his cousin racing:

Tomorrow will be a day of to-dos include getting re-fingerprinted at the VA (do they think my fingerprints changed?) and getting my iPhone fixed. The highlight of next weekend will be seeing my sister and brother to celebrate their birthday! And the rest of the week will be pretty average in-between. Try not to melt in this thick humidity!

xo, 

Krista

M3-- WEEK TWENTY SEVEN

Want to see my redesigned office?!

Last year, I painted it a bold blue with hopes to make it a fun-uplifting space. Well, it just kept collecting furniture until it held 3 desks, a filing cabinet, 2 bookshelves, 2 office chairs, 2 floor lamps.. etc. It was way too much. So we went for the total-overhaul approach!

Over the past little while, the office furntiure was downsized and rearranged, a new chair and rug were purchased, new storage was bought/assembeled/installed (thanks T!), and the room was painted. We bought the chair from Restore, the rug from Garden Ridge, the cabinets were on clearnace at Lowes, and my mom found the art on clearance at BBB -- so the room was redesigned for very little $$! I had plans to construct built-in cabinets but happened to search for pre-made cabinets since we already had one (and because the price of building cabinets was going to be outside our budget for a while..). These pre-mades miraculously still fit the room nearly perfect! It was meant to be :) I ended up buying every cabinet in Omaha because after I installed the base row, I decided we needed more! Poor T.. he never knows what I'll come home with..

Distraction-free zone!

I will still probably recover the chair and paint it white. Otherwise, I'll eventually switch out the bifold door knobs and find cute pillows for the chair.. but it's finished! I don't know that I ever said that about a room in this house.. or had so little left on the to-do list!

As fun much as I love my "new" office.. I should probably document a little about our busy/fun week! Here is a quick run-down (my pictures are uniformly terrible from the past week. I don't think my phone is focusing as quick as it used to - I am ending up with loads of blurry pictures!)

+ We started Sunday night with a wedding between two of our friends from my medical school class. It was fun to be back at our wedding venue! We ate good food, had good company, and I enjoyed time on the dance floor while T watched some football with the men!

+ NYE we went downtown to Blue for sushi with 8 other awesome people. The only downside? We got a speeding ticket on the way (Farnam St is only 30mph! You can thank me later..) and Blue was so booked with reservations that they wouldn't let us order additional food after round one. Lame! After sushi, we crashed at our friends' house, watched Creighton basketball, ate more food (quesedillas and Jacobo's salsa), and played games. Bonus points for you if you noticed that S and I wore the same dress!

+ We watched the Husker game with a lot of the same group from NYE. It was the perfect setup - a huge sectional, a huge projector, and lots of delicious food (protein and carbs only! our favorite!). It was totally worth waking up early on Jan 1 for the Husker win!

+ Thursday night we were treated to dinner by one of my favorite people from my medical school class. He is incredible! It was supposed to be a group thing but ended up being a perfect night with 5 of us trading stories from (the forever-ago) college days. (fail! I took zero pictures!)

+ Finally, T and I planned nothing this weekend so we would have time to do whatever we pleased! We made buffalo chicken egg rolls for dinner.. worked to input Gma's family history work online.. watched sports.. and enjoyed a few quiet minutes before school gets busy again!

Tomorrow I start with labor and delivery.. bring on the babies!! I'm hoping this rotation will solidify my decision between pediatrics and family medicine :) Keep warm this week!

xo,

Krista