Temporary lack of blog....

Due to wedding plans....and lack of time.....I will be blogging sparsely!! So sorry!! Post June 4th I will be back full force!!  I hope to try and do a few in the meantime!!

<3 A

Summer approaches...planning begins!

Right now, as I start this blog, it is officially less than 3 days till my summer vacation begins....

Summer.

Image from we <3 it

SUMMER...such a wonderful word!! such a wonderful time!!

    This will be my last summer... One last Ho-Rah before adulthood officially starts and summer becomes just another season where I'm in school or work... that is until little ones come along (Far, Far in the future)..at which time it becomes a time where you pay someone/have family entertain your child why you are still working...and maybe a trip or two throughout the season...for the kids of course...

But for now...Summer is freedom! Summer is sun! Summer is friends! Summer is....ahhhh!!  

ME! (A few summers ago....)

     My fiance' is in school this summer though, getting his anatomy on....(he gets next summer off while I have the boards and start rounds)...so I am trying to determine my summer plans... the Wedding is of course summer plan number one... but post wedding (with no honeymoon in sight because of said summer school for the future dentist....) its going to be my little adventure...

   Disney with the girlfriends is on the list!! I love Disney, I love roller-coasters, I love everything about amusement parks.....well except the prices..but hey...its my LAST SUMMER.. Oh..and we are making a stop at Harry Potter World... We grew up with Harry Potter, showing my age here..but I was eight when I started reading Harry Potter...and as a twenty three year old...I still love it!! Driving with my girls, crashing in cheap hotels, eating food that's bad for you... What a dream! (The only bad thing is now...thanks to medical school, every time I eat anything bad for me I think about the path its taking and what reactions are going on in my body to turn this delicious morsel into more fat stored in those ever so lovely spots my body has chosen......)

But...back to the plan...

   The beach, regularly, is on the agenda as well....probably with my girlfriends!!! Going out dancing, reading books, drinking margaritas, sleeping in, trips to the dog park with Tungsten, o the things I will do!! 

  Visiting my family.... and his....playing with our niece...who is absolutely adorable. I feel like I have missed soo much with her this year because I have been stuck in the library my head in a book ... O the things I will do!!

   But alas, summer is not all for fun... I will spend the better part of the weekdays of July (after the fourth of course)..working in a rural health clinic..further my education and bettering my resume for residency....not to mention helping people.....

 But hey I still get most of May, all of June, some of July, and most of August FREE...so I am NOT complaining...

Here's to SUMMER,

to the salt in your hair, the sand on your feet,  the drink in your hand, and the sun on your skin.....

<3 A

Mornings...or the black abyss of my day!

FACT: I am not a morning person...

FACT: I am a night owl...which causes further problems with the first fact

FACT: I would never get out of my house EVER without my fiance' and his constant nagging!

FACT: I have chosen a profession/course of study which mandates that early mornings are mandatory

Tungsten Sleeping in one morning

Things I dislike in the morning....

• Coffee... its disgusting...really cant Caffeine taste like unicorns and rainbows!!
• Morning people... love em later...but nothings worse than a chipper person in the morning when your not
• Breakfast....makes me sick to my stomach
• Light... bring on the sun shades...even in the house
• Having to do things like my hair and makeup
• Traffic... I  am a firm believer that jobs should stagger when they start..does EVERYONE need to be there at 8:00 am?? really??
• Walking my dog... not because I don't love him...but we have a pick up after your pets rule here at the condo..and its kinda gross....

  Summary...I'm pretty much one of those don't mess with me till at least 10:30 a.m....

This is defiantly going to be a problem in the near future...

here's to trying (eeek) to be a morning person?!?!?!?!
<3 A

Graduation Time...and Fond Memories

Its graduation season, and no one can deny that... 

     Both high school and college kids are in full celebration mode, happy to have a chapter of their lives closing and looking forward to the future. Some know what lies ahead of them, some have no idea....However, for this one day all that matters is crossing the stage, throwing the hat, getting that diploma....


     It's truly a strange time for me..because 1 year ago I was graduating from college. I was that kid thrilled to be completing a WONDERFUL time of my life! I loved college, I loved every moment of it, but graduation was the culmination of everything I had accomplished in the past four years... and graduation also meant my future was here...you see I already knew I would be attending medical school in the fall....and I was already engaged...so to me graduation meant my life was going to really start...I was...well...I was going to be a "big girl"...

    Looking back on the past year...I have accomplished a great deal...but it really doesn't really seem like it has been that long...  Sitting around with my girlfriends the other day, we couldn't believe that it was already time for graduation again... it seems like just yesterday that the three of us walked across a different stage...the one to get our white coats...the sign of a student doctor....the start of medical school...

     This first year of medical school has gone fast and slow at the same time... each day, each week, each block seems to creep along...but I cannot believe that I only have four days left in the year...

     If graduation brings back such strong feelings for me, someone who only became an alum a year ago, I can only imagine what it must feel like for those 5, 10, 15 years out...those with children graduating, or even grandchildren graduating....

    Graduation is special time, but not just for the current graduates...but for all past graduates and for all those who have ever supported a graduate....


here's to the graduates....
heres's to the future.....
here's to the past.....
here's to now!

<3 A

Unique Wedding Favors...My Style!__ Another DIY project

  What does every bride want...

• A beautiful dress
• The perfect groom
• Great food
• To have a good time

and the list could go on... but if you look to the root of it all..

Every bride wants their day to be special, and to reflect the relationship they share with their betrothed

So, this brings me to my upcoming wedding. I, like every other bride, looked for cute options to make my day SPECIAL! I have talked about various things before that I have done to accomplish this; such as wedding wands, a card cage, and a pinwheel garden.

But this idea was actually the first one I thought of only weeks after we were engaged...so about 18 months ago...

Now backstory... I am a first year medical student and graduated from college last year with a degree in biology. My fiance' is starting dental school in June (2 days AFTER the wedding), and also graduated from college last year with a degree in biology (yeah...that's how we met!!)....
point being....we are big science nerds...but the cool kind!?!?!

So.. My FANTABULOUS wedding favor idea..... TEST TUBES!!!

I know what you thinking...how can test tubes fit into any wedding...unless you are having it in a laboratory... and though I do LOVE SCIENCE...I am not having my wedding in a lab...

So My Idea....
Order Test Tubes
Order Cork Stoppers
Order NERDS (the candy....because test tubes are nerdy...and we are too...cheesy I know!!!!!)
Order custom labels that are the wedding color with our names, date, and location of wedding.
and Get bows to put on top of cork somehow....

and that's what we did...

We Got the Nerds

We got 500 test tubes (I would go with plastic...the glass ones kept breaking when putting together..._)

We found bows to go on the top!

We started on em...

and they started coming together.....

My mother and her friends may have put the nerds in them....while drinking wine of course!!

I found baskets and of course put the "Wedding Ribbon" on them

And Chris' best friend help me design these labels!!

 

 

 

Test Tube project complete!!

I am beyond happy with my wedding favors, and I know my guests will say ... "That's soo Chris and Alex"..... Well that and the coozies they are getting!! Anywho..I am just glad that I am able to bring some personality into my wedding and just CANNOT wait!!

27 days and counting!

Here's to being yourself!!
<3 A

Adorable at ALL times

     So I know I said the test tubes were going to be my next post...but today I had new inspiration!! So they will come soon I promise...but this post is (of course) about my lovely pup Tungsten....

      Today was graduation at my Alma Mater...and my fiance' (Christopher) and his parents went to watch some of our best friends graduate. I stayed home.... there was a dual purpose to me staying home...
1) I got extra study time since my FINAL test as a FIRST YEAR medical student is THURSDAY!!! and 2) I got to stay and watch Tungsten.

So the sight in my living room included me sprawled out on my couch with piles of paper trying to relearn all of Cardiovascular block...ineffeciently I may say as i was blog surfing, facebooking, and even playing some Call of Duty ( my dirty little secret...I love to play certain video games with or without Christopher)...

Anywho and I look over and Tungsten is asleep with his two favorite stuffed animals!! It was absolutely adorable!

Seeing him laying there asleep made my day! Tungsten truly is a joy in my life, he shares so much love and has such life in him....

I love my dog...and I just wanted to share it (as if I haven't before)...Maybe a cute puppy cuddling with his favorite stuffed animals will make someone else's day too!!

O My......I can only image when I have kids...

So here's to dogs being cute!!
and it making your day once in a while!!
<3 A

Wedding Favors...Child Style!!

       In the midst of my studies last block, I discovered Etsy. This was both a good and bad discovery as I ABSOLUTELY love Etsy, and I was shopping rather than studying! I could spend HOURS (and still can) just looking at all the beautiful things people can make. As usual, in my shopping fits, I bought a few things...
      Well I of course have wedding fever as one month from today I will make the transition from Miss. to Mrs. So most of my Etsy shopping revolved around my wedding. Now, I already had my wedding favors which are candy filled test tubes (I'll write about these next...they are AMAZING ...well at least in my opinion.). So I couldn't justify buying any of the beautiful favors on the website. However, I did buy this lovely cards sign, to hand on the birdhouse I turned into a little project (add pain, ribbons, and such) to have a card cage.

        I also bought some bouquet charms with our initials to add a little rustic touch to my walk down the isle.

       But my favorite purchase were my pinwheels. Now, they were smaller than I thought they were, but thats entirely my fault for not reading descriptions or being able to tell lengths....I mean I was just excited because they were gorgeous. So I ordered 24. 12 of them were pink floral, and 12 of them were brown and white.

     When they came in I realized I had to find a FABULOUS way to display them at the reception...I mean they are darling and I know the kids will love them...That's where Mama dearest comes in. We put our heads together...and this is what we came up with.......
 
               A GARDEN OF PINWHEELS!!!!!


We bought floral foam, artificial vines, moss, and used the "official" wedding ribbon that can be found on just about anything we have touched (even the birdhouse) and TA-DA!!!  Garden!!

      I am so happy with the outcome, and my mother is pretty pleased as well. They will look super cute on the favor table next to the test tubes, and I am happy that there will be something there to entertain the children.

Here's to my next DIY adventure!!
<3 A

A study of Parkinson's disease brings Medicine to life......For me

     Last week concluded my final "real" block for my first year of medical school. (By that I mean that I am now in a "Synthesis" block...which hopefully should be pretty straight forward). I am glad to have what I believe to be the most difficult block of the year behind me, but I am thankful for the lessons I learned during it.
     You see, last block was the head and neck/cognition block. During this block we learned a great deal of interesting information about how the brain works and communicates with the body, how the body relays information to the brain, and of course a bunch of tedious information about the exact path neurons from specific body parts take to go to their destination.

    In this vast amount of information, we also learned about numerous disorders and diseases including, but not limited to; Meniere's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease. Of all the diseases I have learned about this past year the one that has affected me the most is Parkinson's disease. Why??   My grandfather died in 2004 from complications due to Parkinson's disease.
 
   So what is Parkinson's disease....it is a hypo-kinetic brain disorder characterized by tremors and difficulty with walking, movement and coordination. Parkinson's is often associated with some form of dementia as well. Parkinson's affects both men and women, usually in their mid to late 50's, and there has been a genetic correlation found in some cases.

    My grandfather was one of the most amazing people I ever knew. He was loving, funny, smart, and caring. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's when I was really young, and in the beginning I didn't notice the slight changes that started. The unilateral tremor, the slight memory loss, the trouble starting to walk, etc. As I got older I did, however, start to notice. I noticed that he couldn't feed himself without making a mess, he couldn't go for a walk, or any of the other things that he used to be able to do. It was really hard to watch him degenerate over the years, especially mentally. Towards the end he couldn't remember the names of any family, where he was, or what was going on. Parkinson's is truly a terrible disease, and having experienced it first hand I feel I have more insight than most of my classmates. I know each classmate of mine probably has a similar story with a different disease, and I believe that experiences like these will make us all better doctors.
      Learning the ins and outs of the disease that took my grandfather was hard, but I can only hope that this understanding about Parkinson's brought by science will help to one day cure this horrid disease.


<3 A