THE NEW MR AND MRS ANDREW DOUGLASS

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Douglass! Kelly and Andrew tied the knot on October 30, 2010 in a beautiful ceremony in San Antonio following a 3-year engagement. The date was special because it was Kelly and Andrew's anniversary since their first date and it was Kelly's grandmother's wedding anniversary. It simply could not have been more perfect...

We all met up for the rehearsal at Sonterra (which went extremely smoothly, I might add!), then headed downtown for the rehearsal dinner at La Margarita. It was delicious! We had a great time eating yummy Tex-Mex (and margaritas...), visiting with family and friends, hearing awesome blackmail-worthy stories of Andrew, and causing as much trouble as possible. They gave us macarenas and pinatas...what else would you expect?! Kelly's dad and Andrew's dad both did their very best to make us all cry (and were successful) with beautiful, heartfelt thoughts and stories. It was one of those times where you can just feel how happy everyone was for Kelly and Andrew and we all could see that they were meant for eachother. As for the trouble-causing...Ashley's dad started it, right after telling stories that he knew would embarass Ashley. It was GREAT! He was playing with one of the pinatas and Ashley took it from him. So he started stealing them from other tables, and before you knew it...well...I'll just let you see the pictures. We had a shrine to Andrew and Kelly. I'll just say that. If you watch carefully, the shrine grows and develops...

Then, Ashley killed our pinata shrine...

We were also serenaded by a mariachi band! They did a great job! The night ended with a car-ful of people reminding Ryan to drive carefully...first, I said it. Then, Scott and Sarah echoed with "remember, you have precious cargo!" and Dan rounded out the group with the best line..."that's right, tonight you have 4 eggs in your basket!" We all about died laughing, and I'm surprised Ryan didn't try to find a cliff to drive us all off of...

Saturday was the big day! The guys did their thing, which mostly consisted of getting dressed, managing to not get dirty, and arriving on time. Ben and Ryan helped Andrew with a few last minute things before they all headed to Sonterra. The girls did theirs...hair, make up, etc. We all had some great hair styles thanks to Kelly's awesome hairdresser! Before we knew it, it was time to start pictures. Kelly first, then add in the bridesmaids, then family pictures. Then it was Andrew's turn. I love that they held to the tradition of not seeing eachother that day until the ceremony! People started arriving and just about before we could blink, the wedding coordinator came in and told us it was time to line up. The wedding party looked great, all the parents were so happy and glowing, Andrew was all dolled up and as handsome as ever (and trying so hard not to cry), but Kelly took the prize...I don't even have words to describe how gorgeous she was. She was a dream or like a fairy tale. She came down the aisle...Mr. Fetzer by her side so proud! He handed her to Andrew, then both Kelly's dad and Andrew's dad teared up and anyone that could see them just about lost it. The pictures they got with the scenery and sunset behind them were to die for! Andrew and Kelly were glowing, the ceremony and scenery were amazing, everyone was so happy...it was just perfect. After the ceremony, they had the usual picture sessions, then we all headed to the reception, which was a blast! We danced, had some delicious dinner, made very good use of the candy bar, and again, people made speeches it seemed with the intent to make everyone tear up...successfully again. We sent them off in style with sparklers! What an end to a great day. Andrew and Kelly are married! Congrats again, thank you so much for letting us be part of your special day, everything was amazing, and we love you!

I'll post a few pictures once the camera makes it back home...it's still en route with Ryan.

WHAT A WEEK!

Week 9 definitely packed a punch! It started off with a bang-3 tests on a Monday. UGH. And I'll just very briefly note that all 3 tests could have gone much smoother than they actually did. The bottom didn't necessarily fall out, but I was most certainly not pleased with my performances. It was fitting that the cruise ship was in the bay as I was leaving school-just to taunt me. And let me tell you, that day, it was even more tempting. I picked up my dresses for Kelly's wedding on my way home, and of course one of them just wasn't quite right...but it didn't help that I managed to forget my shoes and claim tickets on my way out of the house that morning. AWESOME. Tuesday held an unexpected 8 AM class and yet another test which went much better, followed by my brain just completely crapping out on me. I can't blame it though, we were exhausted. That was terribly unfortunate because I still had a large homework assignment due that evening and I had to pack my bags so Ryan could take them on to San Antonio to avoid having to check any bags with the airline later on. I'm still not sure how either of those actually got accomplished. Wednesday continued the excitement as Ryan headed out of town (and left me to hold down the fort by my lonesome...) and my cousin Ashley had her baby! Welcome baby Bodhi! Also, my Dad was in town for some business stuff, so I got to see him for dinner. Besides Ryan (DUH...), I haven't seen any family since we moved here in August, so it was really nice to get to visit with my dad. It really helped ground me again and kinda decompress, which, as you can clearly see, I could use a healthy helping of both. Thursday, I attended a luncheon to honor the donors of the scholarships to UTMB since I was a recipient of one of the awards, then headed to Katy after school to see Ashley. Yes, I love her. I drove from Galveston to Katy in rush hour traffic. If that isn't love, I don't know what is! Then Friday was the almost-big-day! I had class in the morning, then got myself to the airport (yes, I parked, got through security, boarded and all! All by myself! I'm a big kid now...). Once I landed, it was wedding weekend time! And that deserves a special post all its own. :)

Here's a picture of me with baby Bodhi...isn't he just adorable! Congrats again to the Slater Family!

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

This week was exactly what I had been craving since the semester started: no tests, only two assignments, and no meetings or homework to really speak of. My presentation went well, we only had one day of anatomy lab, and we even hit the half-way point of the semester. You're imagining the nice sunrise and feeling that serenity of the last blog post, right? That's where I should have been...except Monday we have 3 tests. BOOOO! Then Tuesday, we have another test. Then we have three anatomy labs this week and more homework and assignments on top of that. So I have essentially spent my one week of serenity planning for my next week of chaos. And oh ya, minor detail...MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING is on Saturday! So goodness knows I won't be able to concentrate on much of anything this week! But seriously, last week was still pretty good and I felt like I got quite a bit done, but I'm still fearing this next week. Thank goodness it ends on a good note with Andrew and Kelly's wedding. You will also be glad to know that this past Friday, I had to get my last Hepatitis B vaccine and I didn't pass out! It's amazing how actually following the advice of the neurologist helps...call me high maintenance or whatever, but it's better than more trips to the ER. I think I scared the poor nurse, but she'll be fine. Anyways, yall keep me in your thoughts and prayers this week...I'll need it! Ok, back to the land of Patho I must go...

SWEET SERENITY

It may have only been for about 10 minutes, but I finally caught a little sweet serenity. I was driving to school one day and caught a glimpse of this...so I pulled over and went and sat on the beach for a minute just to soak it all in. Yup, I got to hit the beach on my way to school...not many people get to do that. I figured there are 2 ways to look at this...1: the sun is in my eyes! OR 2: Wow, this is beautiful. Not everyone gets to go to school on an island and see a gorgeous sunrise like this nearly every day. It just makes me remember how blessed I am to be here doing what I am doing. If you look closely, you might even be able to see some of the big ships on the horizon! No cruise ships today :)

A GOOD DAY!

Do you know what today is?! It's the official half-way point of my first semester of PA school! Wa hoo!! Believe it or not, I've actually made it half way through this semester. It's weird because on one hand, I feel like I've been here for SO long because of all the work I've done and how much I've learned, but at the same time, it feels like I just moved in last weekend. The scary thing is that Christmas (and finals...OMG!) are practically right around the corner. I mean, white coat ceremony is only 6 weeks away! I miss everyone so much and thank you all for the thoughts and prayers! I might actually make it (through the semester!) after all...:)

LAYLA'S VISIT

Layla and I had such a great time! I'm so glad she came...it reminded me of some of the sanity I had before I started PA school. Did you know that there's a mall in Houston...well, a few, but I finally got to go to one of them! She came in on Friday evening, we had dinner, then went to see Secretariat at the movie theater. It was SO good! It made me want a pony even more, but Ryan was fully prepared for that reaction. I keep telling him that's what's on my Christmas/Birthday wish list, but he keeps telling me that I can get one after I graduate. Booooo. Anyways, Saturday, Ryan and I took Layla down to the island to show her around and we had lunch at one of the local restaurants. Then, Ryan headed to work and Layla and I headed out shopping! Can you say TROUBLE!? I've been deprived for months, so just letting me loose was probably not a good idea. We started at DSW in search of shoes, then headed to the Galleria, which turned into an adventure. I parked at the Dillards, then was informed that although I could see the Galleria from the parking lot, Dillards was in fact not really part of the mall. Who seriously designs stuff like that?! So we packed back up and tried again for the mall. Strike two...kinda. I ended up in the hotel portion, ran away from the valet guys, and made some sort of an illegal u-turn. And almost did a "Dukes of Hazzard" move as we got into the parking lot because I didn't see the dip in the driveway...oops, sorry Layla! Try again...we took quite a round-about way so we were on the right side of the road and finally found the parking garage where everyone was just sitting in line. I'm sorry, I wanted to PARK in the PARKing garage! Get out of my way!!! By the time we finally parked, I was tired and ready to go home. This is why I don't venture out much. We combed through the mall, which was disgustingly busy, but found nothing worth purchasing. That mall is NOT designed well by any means. But it's ok because Layla had her first experience in Tiffany's-every girl can use a little retail therapy in Tiffany's. Oh yeah, there were 2 quincinera's at the mall...lots off teenagers, 2 big ball gowns, and oh so many people everywhere! Arg. So then we headed (where else?!) to the Container Store because you can always find something worth buying there, then we met Ryan for dinner and had some yummy dessert at BJ's Brewhouse. She had to head back home on Sunday...sad face :(. Finding the airport and manuevering that was easier than the danged mall! So her visit was short, but I'm so glad she came and we had a lot of fun! It really helped rejuvenate me. Thanks Layla!

I.AM.SO.TIRED.

Wow, I cannot even begin to put into words just how exhausted I am. I have never been this tired before-not even when I was in my senior year of undergrad, working full time, and about to get married and move to Dallas. Not even then was I quite so exhausted. This past week was supposed to be relatively light, right? Only 2 assignments and 1 test can't be this bad, right?! Apparently I was wrong and Week 7 got completely out of hand. I'm pretty sure it was some extracurricular events that helped though...I was fighting the post office because they keep losing my mail or I get it, but it's opened. Not cool, post office, not cool! Also, I've been on the hunt for a tailor to get 2 dresses of mine and Ryan's suite fitted. Sounds easy, but it's just hard to hand off $600 worth of clothing and "hope" you picked the right people to take care of you. So I finally found a tailor that other people had some really good things to say about, but the lady is only there one day a week, and of course, I missed my day last week. Arg. So after that, my 1 test of the week didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped. I really thought I studied well and was prepared, but apparently I was wrong. Granted, I didn't bomb it or even fail it, but I was nonetheless NOT satisfied with how I did. I think this was the first time this semester I really felt that way. Oh yeah, that day, I only got like 5 hours of sleep because I was up studying. For those of you who know how much I love my sleep, you understand what a big deal that was. The last thing that really got my week messed up was anatomy lab. I'm still not sure why, but the smell has just been getting to me lately. It happened last week, too. It's not one of those things I can just avoid, I mean, I have to go! But it's no fun being royally nauseated for nearly 2 entire days of the week, and basically not wanting any meat products or fatty foods for the other 5. Poor Ryan has had to put up with my face turning green when he even talks about dinner and my new "pickiness" when it comes to food. Hopefully this will go away soon...what ever happened to acclimation or fatigue!? Come on nose, work with me! The light at the end of the tunnel for this week...The Original for lunch on Friday with the girls (of course!) and Layla's coming to visit! I'm so excited! I have to keep my eye on the positives and try to put this week behind me...

JUST IN CASE...

And just in case you were wondering how truly nerdy I am...

Check out this video on YouTube. A few keys during the video:
1. Bates is a textbook. Bates is THE textbook (besides Patho of course). Bates basically gives us the why and how to the physical exam which is our bread and butter. You live, eat, breathe Bates.
2. "Capture your kidney" is part of our physical exam requirements. Have you ever tried to do it? Not so easy!!
3. They're dead serious when they say that we have to get B's in order to pass. To put this in perspective, you have to have a 3.0 in all your classes to graduate. I totally understand why and it's entirely feasable, but GEEZ! Talk about a rough ride...
4. Sadly, nothing I saw in this video did I consider "out of the ordinary." You think they're being dramatic? Nope...this is a pretty fair representation. Haha!

ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX7jme2b0N0
Parody of "Low" by Flo Rida from the Emory PA class of 2010 documenting their first year of Physician Assistant training. DISCLAIMER: This music video was written, recorded, filmed and produced by students and in no way reflects the opinions, ideas, or mission of Emory University, Emory University School of Medicine, or Emory University Physician Assistant program.

I FLASH-MOBBED!

Studying, caffeine, physical exams, blood draws, and flash mobs! Hah, yes, this is the life I lead these days. In honor of National PA week and National PA Day for 2010, all three classes of PAs at UTMB (c/o 2010, 2011, 2012) all got together and did a flash mob in the plaza at school during our lunch break one day. It was definitely a new experience, but it was fun! It was nice that all 3 classes got together-I don't think you see that at every school. That's because UTMB is awesome. Here's the proof...and if you can't see the pictures very well, go to the UTMB website and just search "flash mob," I promise, it will pull us up. UTMB doesn't get all too many flash mobs. I tried to get the pics bigger, but apparently I've lost touch with technology and how to perform fancy acts like that.

Rachel and I got the BEST job!

STRANGENESS

This week (Week 6) was really just weird, but I can't quite put my finger on why. Don't get me wrong, I was busy as usual, but it felt oddly slow! Assignments, studying, 2 tests, and a surgical society meeting. Plus I met with a few people outside of the normal studying time in order to prepare for the tests. And I was stressing because I hadn't received my physical exam grade and all the other groups had. Maybe it felt odd because most of the nights I actually got to go to sleep before midnight, who knows. As it turns out, I ended up getting my physical exam grade on Friday, and I was quite pleased with it. As for the 2 tests, I did well on one of them, maybe a little better than expected. The other one...I did just fine, but a few of the questions on the test caught me offguard somehow, so I didn't do as well as I would have liked. I ended up missing the ones I thought I'd miss, but I still wasn't necessarily pleased. The cruise ship was there as usual on Thursday, so that stirred up the usual resentment. And I was in a bit of a funk on Friday afternoon. I don't know, I was just in a foul mood. Cool stuff this week though-we got to remove the heart and lungs during lab then dissect them! Basically open heart surgery :). It gave me flashbacks of getting to go into lung transplants with Dr. Garcia...and I remembered how awesome I really thought it all was. That kinda made me smile, then the smell caught up with me. Maybe that's what put me in a bad mood. That and catching the stupid train like 3 times this week. Oh ya, and the post office keeps losing my mail. So see what I mean? I had a relatively normal week and nothing necessarily horrible happened, but I was just in a funk. Maybe it's a release that I've made it through these tests accompanied by the lack of sleep finally catching up to me and some little annoyances are finally starting to irritate me just enough. But this week is going to better...you want to know why?! Because LAYLA is coming to visit on Friday! Wa hoo! And I only have 1 test and 2 assignments due this week, and no meetings. The bad news though...I have to get my last HepB vaccine and my flu shot. BOOOO! I'll make sure to tell yall next week if I pass out or not. Keep your fingers crossed that we don't have to call the cardiac team from the ER again.

BEAUTIFUL PROGRESS

I actually had a moment this weekend, and I felt kinda, sorta, just a little accomplished! I made it through a few tests and other various assignments/presentations, and they haven't kicked me out yet! Haha Seriously, I've made it through week 5, so I'm 1/3 the way through my first semester. This week, I had a Clin Lab Methods exam, a presentation, met with the oncology society, Patho homework due, then had my Physical Diagnosis test. The exam, presentation, and meeting went well. We haven't gotten Patho grades back yet, and I know I went over the time limit in my physical exam test. Yall know me...I got distracted and was probably lolly-gagging with my patient. I don't imagine I'll have any big problems out of either of those 2 assessments, but it's just a matter of how badly my nerves got to me in my physical diagnosis. I can do the exam backwards and forwards on my friends or Ryan, but give me someone I don't know, and it's a whole new world. It will just take practice to get used to that feeling and to figure out how to portray my confidence...which is usually completely shot when I know the patient can feel my hands shaking uncontrollably when I take their blood pressure and pulses. EEK! Ya, so that's definitely a work in progress. So now, I actually get to catch up on some of my reading and homework assignments because this week I only have 2 tests, 1 other assignment due, and 1 meeting. Yippee! I didn't think I'd ever say this, but I'm actually kinda glad that we're so busy. Something would be wrong if I had free time, at least that's what Holly tells me :). Plus, it definitely makes time feel like it's just flying by. I mean, it's already October! It's hard to believe that my interview was only like 8 or 9 months ago. It's crazy how life can change so much in such little time. Wow, I'm pretty blessed, huh? Yup, I certainly am. On that note, goodnight everyone!

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY!

So as expected, there are good things about going to school in Galveston. Obviously, I'm basically on the beach! When the weather is nice...it's absolutely gorgeous! I'm on the island, so even when it's hot, there's usually a decent breeze. Everyone is pretty laid back, but we still get stuff done and we still do it well. Another good thing is that usually, you can get almost anywhere on the island in like 15-20 minutes, and you can walk most places when it's nice out. However, Galveston has it's "not so bright" moments. First, if it rains, the streets have a strong tendency to flood. One of the reasons I opted to purchase parking in the above-ground garage instead of taking my chances on the streets. If you'll recall, my little tank was almost swallowed by the UTSW underground garage floods about a year ago. I really don't need any re-inactment of that. Traffic is another issue-when there aren't any issues, everything moves really smoothly. But heaven forbid there's a problem. If a train comes, it takes an eternity to pass. Example-I was sitting at the railroad crossing today because the arms were down and the lights were on. There was no train. It took wasting WAY too much of my time for me to realize that I had 2 options because this was no longer OK: turn around and attempt (with fingers crossed...) that I could somehow go around the tracks or just go through the crossing like everyone else was doing. I'm not going to tell you which one I chose, but I will tell you that I didn't sit there and wait any longer. Also regarding traffic, if there's an accident on the big bridge, that's the ONLY reasonable way onto or off of the island! And this whole "laid back" thing is a double-edged sword. In the rare instance that I'm actually in a hurry...nobody cares. Not the drivers, not the lights, not the pedestrians crossing the street when the little orange hand is quite obvious. So as with any place to live, there are some really nice things and some kinda brutal things about Galveston. Now, here's the ugly:

Yes, that's a cruise ship. Now, don't get me wrong...I would LOVE to go on a cruise! And that it's so convenient is just awesome. But that's exactly the problem! Every week, usually on a Thursday, I have to drive by this stinkin thing and watch all the happy people go get on their pretty little cruise ship for a week-long vacation. I drive past them and just think that they're going to go enjoy new places, the sun, and just have a fantastic time. And I get to go sit in my classroom for the next 8 hours, then on Friday I'll spend half the day in a classroom and half the day in lab doing dissections. Thank goodness this doesn't usually occur on Mondays, or my friends might just have to drag me back off the cruise ship kicking and screaming. I'm only being mean because I'm jealous. I know those people go have a great time, and I can't wait to go sometime...probably after I graduate. I've tried to put it in this perspective: if I see the cruise ship once per week, that's one week (and one cruise ship) closer to when I can actually go join those people! One day...:)