almost. done. studying. nonstop

Boards are almost upon the third year class, and we resemble teenagers more than the 20 something year olds that we actually are! We are irritable, faces broken out with stress induced acne and have mood swings between 'I can do this, it will be fine' to 'I know nothing, I'm going to fail' (the last being accompanied by hyperventilation). I know many of my friends husbands and boyfriends (and Ben) have been lashed out upon. So to them I want to say we really don't mean it, we will return to our normal sweet selves after boards!

Here is a sampling of where I've been the past 3 months along with a few study breaks :)

My desk at home:

It was a beautiful 80F here the other day so I studied on the patio all day!

I hate studying at the school library because of the lack of natural light, here is pretty much the only window in the library:

View of the window from the outside (the bottom half of the circle is the lunch room, the top is the library)

If one wants good windows to study by the Benjamin L. Hooks Main (public) Library delivers (they also have pretty light/sculpture/art in the grand staircase)

And you may see things like this in the parking lot (you know just another day at the library)...

For really pretty windows (and usually a quieter library) one can go to the Barret Library at Rhoades College. This campus is beautiful and one feels like he/she is studying in a castle with all the leaded and stained glass windows. These three pictures are of 1 window that spans an open area of 2 floors!

Then there is the local coffee shop. I splurge on a fancy coffee and a muffin or cake doughnut (not as good as a Casey's doughnut, but there are no Casey's round here)

Pretty garden/patio at Cafe E.

mmmmm, vanilla latte (kept me up all night!)

To keep myself from getting too burnt out I try to take a 10 minute break after each hour of study. Usually this is accomplished with a medium level sudoku game on my iPod. If there are any of these on boards I know I will do well :)

SVOSH held a trivia fundraiser night (brief explanation about SVOSH here and about my trip last year here) Even though I am not going on a trip this year I do try to support the group still. Plus who doesn't like trivia. The final bonus question was optometry related (because that is all we ever talk about!) Here are my fellow third years showing the classic way to figure out a strabismus question (an eye turn, often when we think through a problem we use our hands to simulate which way the eye is pointing- wall eyed, or cross eyed)

Jenny's birthday was the kick off to spring break. We all took a study break to help her celebrate by going to a karaoke bar. Lets just say it was an experience! We all had a good time. Here are Cal and Erin performing '03 Bonnie and Clyde' Best of the night!

Now I must go review/cram for boards a little more. Only 3 study days left, and 6 days till freedom!

Life Changing Birthday & Valentine's Day gifts

For Valentine's Day Ben gave me a jar full of daffodils (or buttercups as they are apparently called around here) and a note embedded in a math equation. I knew just what to do with the note; hang it up on the wall that has been bare and needing some picture love for 2.5 years now. I think it looks quite nice if I do say so myself!

I was excited about the daffodils (as I always am about receiving my favorite flower) and enjoyed them as long as they lasted, but I didn't take a photo of them. I have a confession to make though, today I was more excited about the jar they came in...

Let me explain. I have this fascination with the magazine Real Simple's 'New Uses For Old Things' articles. Ben knows this and gave me the book for my birthday:

Well one of the ingenious suggestions is using a mason jar on one's blender! I have this habit of collecting things, and my most recent collection has become glass/mason jars. Not a single one of them fits my blender; until i tried the jar the flowers were in! Happy day! Now I can make single serving raspberry smoothies without dirtying the blender and a glass! I'm more excited about this than I probably should be, but I don't care!

Put the ingredients in the jar:

Assemble the blender blade, rubber stopper and jar, then put on the blender as usual:

Single serving smoothie without all of the dishes to do!

It's Magic!

I came across a quote on Google+ today that I found interesting:

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

-Carl Sagan

I use the internet multiple times a day everyday, yet I have no idea how it works. Ben on the other hand does and when he patiently explains how things like this work my response is "Oh so it uses magic." His response is "Yeah, exactly!" It's my easy answer to get out of thinking through all the cumbersome (in my mind) terms and science of technology. (Who are we kidding I don't even know/understand what twitter is let alone the electronics that make it possible.)

While studying I found myself thinking it's "magic" that makes oxygen get from our lungs to the rest of our body. Thinking of this quote I forced myself to get out the heavy physiology book I had brought with me to look up how it really works.

With that I thought I would share a fun fact from today's study session for y'all:

When we breath we don't use all of our lungs, the blood vessels in the top portion are closed off so the blood doesn't pick up oxygen at that location. When we exercise our heart pumps harder and forces the vessels at the top of our lungs to open.

Isn't learning fun!

P.S. I was hesitant to share this quote because it's hard to know the validity quotes online. I asked Ben about it because he is a bit of an expert on Carl Sagan and he updated it a bit. Here it is:

We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster.

-Carl Sagan

Boy I'm glad I looked up how respiration works now!

Boards: Part I

On March 20th & 21st I will be taking part I of my national boards. It is a 500 question, $625 standardized test where I get to show off how much I've learned in the past 2.5 years, no big deal. In preparation for this monster of an exam I left Penny Laine back in Iowa so I could have more study time without feeling like I am neglecting her (she gets pretty grumpy if she doesn't get enough of her daily game of fetch, and countless walks). Anyways I came across some old photos and videos of her (I've done all my studying for the day already) and thought I would post some of them for your enjoyment (well I hope you enjoy them, I think that she's pretty cute, but I'm also a bit bias).

So without further ado, Penny Laine:

Floppy eared puppy:

The first video my parents sent to me:

Chasing her tail:

Just after she lost her front puppy teeth:

How she lost her front teeth:

The "I'm tired, but I don't want you to play with my new toy" look

These are her ornery ears:

Filling the role of 'bug killer" for Al and I:

Before she developed her irrational fear of car rides:

Fortunately we curbed this habit early:

When she pulled her first "cat" stunt:

Playing with her rawhide:

Enjoying a long walk along the (flooded) Mississippi:

Relaxing after a long walk:

Always wants to play fetch with her Frisbee:

Always has to be close to me when shes tired and I'm studying:

She likes to "nest" in blankets, a lot:

Again enjoying a long walk by the Mississippi:

It was a windy day for a walk:

Fall 2011 Recap

September: Iowa vs. TTU & SCO's Homecoming

Labor day weekend my alma mater (University of Iowa) played Ben's alma mater (Tennessee Technological University) at Iowa. So naturally I insisted we go to the game! I told Ben the weather would be much better than it was during his trip to Iowa last January. We went tailgating and it was overcast. Just before the game it started to pour. We left during the 3rd quarter when the game was postponed due to the inclement weather.

Jen and I tailgating (I didn't take many more pictures due to the rain)

Mid September SCO held it's annual Homecoming BBQ. My classmates and I gathered along with the alums in the back parking lot for some Memphis BBQ and beer. It's always a good time!

Jenny, Jessie, Ashley, Al and I:

Anna and I:

Ben and I:

October: TVCI, RAM & Halloween

The begining of October some classmates and I attended a conference at The Vision Care Institute (TVCI) which is a division of Johnson & Johnson. We spent 2 days in Jacksonville, Florida learning about their contact lenses, how to be better communicators with patients, how to better network, and touring the plant. TVCI covered all expenses of the trip. I'm beginning to learn that once optometry students start to see patients companies wine and dine us (can't really complain!)

Jenny, Al, Maria, Anna, Amanda, Ellen and I out to eat after just getting into Florida:

Jenny and I at TVCI:

Mid October I volunteered with some classmates on a Remote Area Medical (RAM) trip. We traveled 2 hours east to give free eye exams to those unable to receive care. People travel from all around and wait hours in line to receive free medical, dental and optometric care. We stayed at a summer camp! I enjoyed reliving my summer camp glory days but I must say Camp Wyoming had much sturdier bunk beds and nicer cabins in general!

The whole group in front of the RAM truck:

Van, Amanda and Addison after a long first day:

Sara, Emma and Adrienne in front of the girls cabin:

Where all of the glasses were made for our patients:

For Halloween Ben and I dressed up as Shaggy and Velma from Scooby Doo. I made Penny a candy corn costume, she was a bit embarrassed to be in costume! I gave Al a crash course in sewing and she made her owl costume!

November: Visionary Cruise & Thanksgiving

Wal Mart was next on the list to wine and dine the 3rd year class (only there was no wine, just dining). We went on a river boat cruise on the Mississippi and ate BBQ and learned about employment opportunities through Wal Mart and Sam's Club. Following the presentation there was a band, but my friends and I enjoyed the warm weather out on the deck and soaked in the Memphis night skyline.

Thanksgiving was spent with the Bell family. It was so good to be all together again and to finally show Ben off to my family!

"Be Good"

Al and I don't really check the mailbox too frequently. Usually it is about twice a month: when we expect the utility bill and the cable/internet bill, because besides junk mail that is the only other mail we receive. There is the monthly Real Simple magazine but that is about the most exciting mail we get. Today we got the mail and there were 3 particular pieces that didn't get tossed in my junk pile. One from church back home, one from the Lions Foundation, and a life insurance statement.

The one from church contained a letter written to me from 12 year old me. Turns out in 1997 during Vacation Bible School I wrote a letter to myself that was to be mailed to me in 2007. The letter was pushed to the back of Howard's closet and forgotten about till he found them recently. So he sent me my letter! In it I explain my favorite outfit (grey Nike t-shirt and black shorts), the most important person in my life (my mom), my greatest accomplishment (getting through K-5 and being good) and some advice to myself ("be good").

Al and I had a good laugh about my favorite outfit and my great accomplishment of completing the 5th grade and being good (I've been through 13.5 years of school since then!) But the most important person and my advice got me to do some thinking. I'm sure the "be good," advice I gave myself was strongly influenced by my mom. The thought of these two things kept running through my head as I opened the rest of the mail.

I joined the Lions Club this past fall. We have a big club at school (which makes sense based on the Lion's mission of saving sight). The letter was about raising funds to help vaccinate children.

I get a monthly statement of the life insurance policy left to me by my mother. Normally I glance at it and just leave it be. I imagine one day I'll use it as part of a down payment to buy or start my own practice.

"be good" kept running through my head and I decided I would make a donation to the Lions. Usually I brush off such monetary requests with the thought of how much debt I'm going to be in once I graduate. And it is true, I will have a good chunk of educational debt to pay off once I'm done, but I also am blessed to have a place to live, food to eat and some savings to help pay off the debt once I do graduate. So today I decided to help keep a few kids healthy and to do some good through the help of my mother.

P.S. Only 3 finals stand between me and break so y'all can expect a fall recap soon!