30 Day Photo Challenge: Days 7-11

As I was out of town last week, I am playing a bit of "catch-up" with the 30 day photo challenge. After today's post, I should be right back on track! :) 

Day 7: Something new: picked up this cute ceramic travel coffee mug while I was in Minnesota. It was a birthday gift for me (birthday is not for a few weeks, but I will not see my family between now and then). I have been getting a lot of use out of it, and it will be wonderful for bringing coffee with me to school in the morning. Up until now, I have been trying to fit coffee mugs in the cup holders... and usually end up spilling some coffee as the mugs do not fit. 

Day 8: Technology. Anyone who knows my husband, knows that he likes is electronics and computers... so I figured I needed to add a picture of that. However, currently I am trying to master the decidedly more low technology items of a stethascope, blood pressure cuff, flashlight, and opthalmoscope (thing used to look at the back of the eyes). 

                              

Day 9: Faceless self-portrait. This one was hard to pull off. This is me studying -- my shadow can be seen in my computer and fingers on the keyboard. I just wear my wedding band. I stopped wearing the engagement ring when I took anatomy and probably won't wear it again as its nice not  to worry about the raised diamond scratching anyone.

Day 10: Something I made. I made the RESPECT picture as a project for a med school class -- I actually really like it, and have kept it... The R is from "Romans" in the Bible, the E is my stethascope overlying a novel, the S is my watch, P is from a glass figurine we got at the Great Wall of China, E is my books/coursepacks, C is a leaf pile, and T was made out of medications (Advil, Tylenol, etc.).

However, photography has not ever really been what I have done as a hobby-- I used to paint. I like the mixing of colors, and slowly creating of a representation of something seen in my mind. While I can't find some of the other things I have painted, this tree has been on our walls for a while. It was never finished... but I like the twisted trunk and color variation in the leaves.

Day 11 -- Today: Something fun. I have a book of things that I paint, pictures I have taken, random memorabilia, my list of 50 things to do before I die, and quotes. This book to me is fun to look through and add stuff to when I have the random scrap or quote I would like to save.

• It has my collection of tree pictures -- I like the green of the leaves, twisted bark, and permanence of old trees. 
• It holds a collection of eye cut outs -- I think eyes are quite beautiful, expressive, and fascinating. Eyes have this wonderful variation of color and no two are exactly alike -- how wonderful is that! 
• It contains the random things I have won at fairs -- horoscopes, etc. These to me are just for fun.
• And it has lots of doodles, random pics, etc. 

30 Day Photo Challenge: Days 2-6, and a few extras from my trip to visit family

Day 2: What I wore to ride/drive ~700 miles to visit my family -- my jacket, a plaid shirt, sparkly T-shirt and jeans. Last minute trips are the best! :) Taken in a gas station bathroom en route.

Last Friday morning 2 minutes before class, I got a phone call asking if I wanted to go home for a few days over break. We had talked about maybe going -- but, for various reasons... heading into the end of the week, it did not look like the trip was going to happen. I, of course, said "Yes!" as I had spring break and was wanting to spend some time with my family. After class, packed up my bags -- taking clothes out of the washer and off the chair-where-things-are-held-prior-to-folding, said good-bye to Pete over lunch, and headed home. 12 hours later -- I said "hello" to my mom and dad, excited to be able to enjoy a week with them and other family.

Day 3: Clouds -- couldn't decide which I liked better... this?

Or this? You can see the moon through the trees. Both were taken while going on a walk around the block.

Day 4: Favorite color -- I love all colors -- they make me happy. Red, Green, yellow, blues, anything... without them the world would be very bland. I also love this saying. I saw this while I was down there and had to take a picture of it! :) I can think of many things I could look back on and wish I had done differently, be it starting school earlier or having a random fun job out West somewhere (never happened) when I was younger ~ but that would have taken some of the journey out of life.

Day 5: Someone I love. This pic was taken after a "lice scare" at my mom and dads (and actually was taken Saturday -- but thought it most appropriate for this day's pic).

Funny story: Saturday, after having a really nice lunch at a Japanese hibachi steakhouse. My dear sister, Jenna, saw white dots in another sister's hair. This girl is absolutely paranoid of getting lice, and checks her daughter's hair a few times a day. So, white dots = lice.

After saying that "(the littlest sister) has lice", she asked another one of my sisters (a nurse) to double-check. By this time, we were all scratching our heads -- suddenly finding them very itchy. So, she saw the white dots and was convinced -- the littlest sister had lice (by the way, my sister who is a nurse has never seen a case of lice). We swung through the pharmacy on the way home to pick up lice combs, shampoo, etc. and all started to get in the rhythm of scouring the house, bagging up brushes/hair stuff, etc. And treating hair with Permethrin cream rinse, and spraying fabric stuffs that can't be washed with Permethrin spray. (We treated the sister with "lice" and my hair. The Permethrin cream rinse kills eggs, bugs, etc. for 14 days and I was not going to be in down for > 14 days... so to me, treating my hair seemed like a good idea.)

My mom starts combing out the sister's hair where the "lice" was discovered. And... found that she has a bad case of dandruff. They were not able to find any eggs stuck to hair shafts, live bugs, or anything else suggestive of lice in her hair. Just lots of flaky dry scalp pieces. Everyone's hair got checked for lice, and though we found a few more cases of dandruff... we never found any lice.

We ran out that evening and bought dandruff shampoo, and lots of lice-repellent shampoos and sprays... not wanting a repeat of that scare! :)

Day 6: Childhood memory. Growing up here was magical. Setting sun through my parents window.

Petting sharks and sting-rays at the zoo. Jenna, Jaedon, Nolan.

 Thursday, my mom, grandma, Jenna, Jaedon and Nolan went to the zoo. So fun!

Komodo Dragon

Jaedon playing with the penguins -- this little guy would follow her hand up, down, and side to side when she ran in front of the glass. So cute! :)

Nolan -- king of the hill. He did not want to leave this rock ~5 feet higher than the ground. He liked looking at the penguins, and watching people walk by beneath him.

And, how can I not add this little smiling chica -- my sister Kristen's daughter. She loves dogs, and kept looking for my parent's dog, Tucker. She has 2 dogs of her own at home -- Kimber and Moose. She knows the dog's names and "puppy, puppy". Certainly takes after her mom -- loves animals!

Heading home -- part of me will always be in this city. Lots of fun memories here! :)

We came home yesterday. Getting back about 11:30 PM. 10.5 hours -- very good time with two 17 month olds! :) They were really good in the car, and enjoyed getting treats, water and playing with toys.

Outside of going to the Japanese steakhouse for hibachi and subsequent lice scare, and making it to the Minnesota zoo... we went boutiquing one day, shopping another day, hit up Applebee's for half-priced appetizers, and had many lovely meals together.  I met my sister-in-law for coffee at a cute local coffee shop, and made it to Kristen and Jenna's houses -- to have some really fabulous sourkraut pizza and watch the bachelor-tells-all Monday night as a group. I went to a wedding shower and was able to catch up with a few people. I was thankful to be able to spend so much time at home -- getting to know some of my younger siblings and neices and nephews; and talking with mom, dad, Grandma D., siblings, and others. I did get in some studying... but like the above quote, could regret that it was not enough nor near as much studying as I would have gotten if I had stayed home or look at it as perfect because it got me to where I am today.

30 Day Photo Challenge - Day 1: Self Portrait

Day 1: Self Portrait

Today, I joined a 30-day photo challenge. Sounds like fun! :) Day 1 Challenge = Self Portrait. This was taken from my phone in front of a portion of white wall in the apartment. Our camera is in Pete's flight bag at work.

As I look at it I notice the fuzz on my head -- a significant amount of hair was pulled out in the accident. Good news, its growing back (bad news = more fuzz than usual). Usually I wear glasses, but today I came home and  placed them...? So, this is me as I appear at home, unedited. Growing fuzz around my head and all.

Join the challenge. Click on the 30-day photo challenge link. Its free, fun, and hopefully will inspire a bit of creativity.

What we have accomplished so far... Year 5 (well... almost)

The other day, Pete and I discovered the house projects list that we made when we first moved in. Of the 145 projects that are on this list, in ~5 years we have accomplished 85 of these projects. Some big (ex. new floors for the living room and dining room) and some small (ex. curtains for the living room). Some projects I have blogged about in the past, and some were quietly accomplished. Since acquiring the place, we have figured out that 7 projects either will never be done (ex. general landscaping) or are impossible to accomplish (ex. change laws of physics to suit Heidi).

The original project list for our home

So ~ 65% of our desired projects have been done or will never be done -- a considerable improvement to the home's condition in when we chose to become this home's temporary caretakers. There's still room for the improvement before we make another list of things to do, but I am proud of all that has been accomplished to date. I am getting the feeling that we will never be quite "done" with this place.

A home that's 184 years old is never 100% yours... you get to inhabit and care for it for a little while. It belongs not only to you, but to the generations of families that came before... and will (hopefully) come after you.

Current Home Projects

Although we no longer are at the house as much, we continue to work on projects for the one day when we may return again permanently. We have been hiring out some projects recently -- which is kind of bittersweet. I used to really like to do house projects -- there is a sense of accomplishment when something gets done and knowing that you figured out how to do it. But then again... a project completed is another project off of the list, and right now with school and other responsibilities... these things have been harder to get done.

Some of the more recent projects that we are working on/are completed:

Installing granite stone tile in front of the fireplace. For a long time this was a broken marble slab, and after we put in the new floors... there was nothing there.  Its nice to have this finished off and that this matches other stone detailing throughout the house. We wanted natural stone as it seems out of place somehow to have synthetic details in a house 184 years old.

Finishing up wiring work and installing overhead light in the guest bedroom. Once Pete and his grandpa got through with wiring the 2nd floor, the finishing touches were never completed (i.e. rehanging the trim, grouting the walls, and installing the overhead light). The painter people were there today grouting this room. I am glad that this is getting finished off... It really is a nice room ~ I like the view from these windows. So, it feels good to have this room usable again. One more project off of the list.

Installing an electric heater on the 3rd floor. Previously this was heated by gravity heat through a large grate in the floor. And while this works -- about 18 decades worth of families have found this sufficient in the winter -- it will be nice to have real heat on this floor. This makes the 3 bedrooms on the top floor more usable, especially right now when it gets used only occasionally for guests/others. The gravity heat takes too long to heat up this floor when its not used all the time (the 3rd floor is usually closed off to save on heating costs).

What prompted my run home today, was not to look at these projects or monitor the progress of these (and other) things... but a dog that needed the vet. Hondo ruptured a cervical disk (presumably -- we didn't get an X-Ray), and was in a lot of pain this morning... He kept hiding from the light (and maybe from me?) -- finding a spot in the back corner of the closet. His occasional cries and shrieks of pain were enough to keep me from studying. He is sitting a lot more comfortably after an injection at the vet, and some pain medicine. He will be on steroids and pain medicine for the next 2 weeks. We will be keeping him from jumping on/off the bed for a while ~ its probably how the disk got put out of place.

Our "Harry Potter"dog. He used to live under the stairs in a closet... today he was wanting the peace, quiet, and relative darkness of the shoe closet, seemingly trying to hide from the pain. I tried to make where he was sitting more comfortable by bringing in a pillow and towels. However, he was not even up to moving the pillow and towels around to make it more comfortable or use what I had brought him for a head rest. Poor puppy! :(

 Now to resume studying for my pulmonary exam...

Pandora... one of the many things I am thankful for

I study to Pandora -- a station I have made up myself (Copperhead Road/Steve Earle; Sometime Around Midnight/Airborne Toxic Event; Amanda/Don Williams). It's kind of a mellow, even-paced mix that works well for studying. I have stations for other things (like clean the house) -- but these get significantly less playing time.

So, I listen to a lot of music I would never have found myself. Most of it I like. One of these new-to-me artists is Ferron (like the songs: Love Loves Me and A Girl on a Road -- after you get past the first 2 paragraphs). Its slightly old school country, kind of cajun, pretty interesting. However, I am always on the look out for new stuff to add to this station.

What's your favorite thing to do to Pandora? What's on your station?

Life is what you make of it...

Occasionally, I need to remind myself of this statement. There are times I don't always appreciate being med school. Like during my 17th hour straight of studying on a Saturday before an exam, or when I get to playing the mind game of "places I would rather be than here on this couch with a book in my lap", or when the tax statement comes showing just how much I will owe for the privilege of attending school.

However, there is a lot of things that I like and reasons why I chose to go. School is interesting -- I get to learn about the magic and mystery of the many organ systems in the human body, the amazing adaptive potential (and how things can go awry). And if I was not interested (and did not find the process somewhat enjoyable)... I would not be able to put in the 17 hour days, or length of schooling.

But, I digress... Today, I just finished the urinary tract domain with a 2.5 hour exam was this morning. It feels good to decompress, and relax a bit after my exam -- taking a nap, watching a movie, having a meal more substantial than Cheerios and milk... I again feel refreshed, renewed, and ready to learn about the next organ system (lung), clean the apartment and fold laundry. Such is the pattern of my life... repeated in 3 week intervals.

Life is what we make of it. For any decision or point in a life, there is always going to be something to complain about or something you don't always care for. Life is what you make of it... choosing what to focus on and the mindset is a big part of dealing with big challenges. I got myself into this "mess", I may as well enjoy the ride and learn something interesting along the way! :)