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I may never go into the OR ever again - how awesomely awesome is that?

It's pretty awesome if you ask me. I'd be perfectly happy to never go in the OR again, never scrub with that icky iodine soap, never use the scratchy blue towels to clean off, never sweat under the lights, never worry about my glasses falling off (and into an open wound!). Although I have been told that I will someday inevitably need an additional foot surgery (which will apparently include being completely non-weight bearing for SIX WEEKS), I still like to hope that I will never even be a PATIENT in the OR, either.

Needless to say, I survived ENT. It wasn't all that bad - the residents LOVE to teach so I learned a lot and they gave us quite a few extra days off for match which was greatly appreciated.

There's plenty of other news to update about.

1) Chris and I are trying to buy a house. We have a bit of a dilemma, though, because we can't decide what we want! Here are our options:
Option 1: A really awesome house. It has a backyard with a little porch area, a garage, and lots of nice space for us. Our current favorite actually has 4 bedrooms (although 2 are pretty small) and is a pretty good deal. There are some things that aren't so perfect about it, though - it's on the main road for the entire subdivision so it's a little busy, the driveway is pretty steep, and the master bathroom is TINY.
Option 2: Our landlord mentioned to my dad that he would be willing to sell it. Hopefully we could get it cheap (maybe without a realtor fee too), we wouldn't have to move, we're SO close to campus, and it's close to Patrick and my parents and everything. The problems with it are: sparse parking (and not covered), it's kind of a undergrad area and we don't really like our neighbors, and it's a really crummy area to go for a run.
Option 3: We haven't explored this option too much, but we're interested in looking at other townhouses that would be a bit more expensive, but with better parking situations and more privacy.
Plus, we need to do it by April 30 or we won't get the tax credit. The only thing that makes this sticky is the fact that we may only be here for 3 years depending on where Chris matches when he gets to that point. We're either going to have to rent/sell our house, and for 3 years we won't even make a dent in the payments...Any insight would be appreciated :)

2) I'm dancing. and dancing and dancing and dancing! In the humanities festival next week - I even got Chris to do one of the dances with me! How adorable is that! It's a mixture of lyrical/ballet, stepping, waltz, hip hop, and swing! Chris and I are doing the swing - it's so much fun! The humanities festival is next Friday so I'd better get to practicing! :)

3) Oh yea - MATCH DAY!!! How did I even forget this one! I matched to my first choice - into the UK Primary Care Internal Medicine program. I tell people that internal medicine is like being a pediatrician for grown-ups, and the primary care track gives me more opportunities to work in an outpatient setting than an inpatient one (more clinic than hosptial). I'm so happy and excited (and of course, a little nervous). Match day was stressful and fun at the same time - you go up on stage and they play a song you pick out, you open up your envelope and announce where you're going to everybody! It's so nice to finally have the pressure off - the pressure that's been building ALL YEAR LONG! Now we finally have an answer and can make plans (like getting a place to live!)

That's about the extent of my excitement recently. As you can see, I changed the colors/layout...I think it's fun and girly and cute! Hopefully it will inspire me to write more. I'm starting University Health Services rotation (a clinic for student that's open from 9am-3pm during the week) so my 13+ hour days are going to shorten considerably!

PS- During the writing of this post, I ate half a bag of carrots. Holy cow! That's like 240% DV of Vitamin A!

two down, two to go

Another week has come and gone in the land of ENT. I got quite a bit lazier this week, finding plenty of excuses to go hide in the student lounge and watch TV, but somehow being slightly more useful on the team. I don't know how that works out. I think it's a quality-quantity thing.

Anyway, it's silly early in the morning for me to be up (well I guess it's around 7am now so not so silly), although this is my entire weekend off. I just happened to fall asleep around 8:30 last night and couldn't spend another minute in bed! Dang!

Today Chris and I are running in the Shamrock Shuffle 3k today! I'm pretty excited, especially that it's so short (>

The rest of the weekend is up for grabs. I've been dying to bake but I have no reasons to...I got to make a tiny batch of white chocolate-oatmeal-craisin cookies last weekend when Chris' parents came down but nothing else...I don't even cook dinner!

Well, I've got to go get ready for all this running I'm supposed to do. I guess I'm supposed to wear green?!

quick

I need to clean because Chris' parents are on their way BUT I needed to throw out a couple things.

1) I'm alive. Barely. Week 1 down, 3 to go of ENT AI. It's killing me much more than last year (when I actually cared). Also, there must be something wrong with my shoes because all the standing is EXCRUCIATING. Gah. May go shoe shopping tonight.

2) My poor grandpa Joe passed away last week, just a few days after his 90th birthday. His funeral was on Monday and was probably the most emotional day of my life. It was amazing and beautiful and just the way a funeral should be.

3) I just accidentally found the blog notstudying.blogspot.com and it looks just like mine! Except it hasn't been written in for 5 years and the girl is kind of the opposite of me, it looks like. Interesting.

4) I need to go clean the kitchen. Sorry. Maybe I will post more soon. I hope so, but I am either at work, eating, or sleeping. Literally, I have done NOTHING ELSE. How do surgeons do this? Who can live this way? I have no idea, but it stinks. A LOT. I think if I was a surgeon I would be grumpy, obese, and lonely (poor Chris can't handle much more of this!) Thankfully, only 3 more weeks. Ugh!

Love you all!

Prom photos

Chris thought I should put up these pictures getting ready for med school prom. I'm apparently practicing to be a movie star. :) Unfortunately for everyone, Chris forgot to use his camera the rest of the night, so these are the only pics I have - I don't even have one of Chris! Oh well, a good time was had by all - you really can't beat dessert and dancing. :)

As you may know, I read a lot of food blogs. I'm sure that ups my dorkiness factor, but really, who am I trying to impress? I kept reading about this tomato sauce that seemed waaay too easy to be good. I eventually tried it, and I have to say - they were right. Chris told me just the other day that it was the BEST tomato sauce he's ever had, and ranks high on the best meals he's ever eaten. Ever! Can you guess what the secret ingredient is? It's not basil, garlic, or any of those silly seasonings. There are actually only three ingredients...I'll let you decide for yourself. I highly recommend you try this. Tonight. It's crazy.

28 ounces (one big can) whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano is apparently the best kind, if you can find them. I didn't use them the first time, but I found some later so I'll make it again and maybe let you know how it goes)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste.

That's all. You won't be sorry!

Valentines and Caduceus

My lovely husband fixed me these pancakes for Valentines day! We don't usually get too into V-day too much since everything is 1) fattening 2) expensive, and 3) crowded. But, sweet berry pancakes in bed is a pretty good option.

Caduceus, or "med school prom," was a couple weekends ago. Chris and I decided to have a few people over beforehand just for a little fun. And the best way to get people to come over, of course, is with cake. I decided to make this cake and these cupcakes from a nerdy science food blog that I frequent, called Not So Humble Pie. My treats were not nearly as pretty (not anywhere near, since the cake didn't cook evenly and ended up looking pretty crazy) but boy were they delicious! We ended up having quite a crowd come over and almost all of the cake got eaten (which is exactly how I wanted it) and I am pretty sure it was well liked by all. Yum!

Coconut cake with raspberry white chocolate ganache

Marshmallow cream-filled chocolate cupcakes!

These were just some leftover sugar cookies I had from a bake sale...They were obviously not as big a hit as the cakes. My mouth is watering for some more of that coconut cake just thinking about it!

As an aside, my grandpa passed away this morning. I may put up some posts about it later (I have already written some but not posted them), but not yet. Please keep my family (especially my grandma) in your prayers. :)

Rachel's Surprise Bridal Shower!

My friend Rachel is getting married in a few months! A few of my other friends decided to throw her a surprise shower a few days ago, and I volunteered to make the cake! I made a cute little cake and cupcakes - all in "orange dreamsicle" flavor (which happens to be one of the flavors of Rachel's wedding cake!!)

Rachel was hilarious - when they opened the door and we all yelled "Surprise!!" she turned and asked "what are we celebrating?" That just means it was a good surprise.

Rachel is one of the nicest people I know, and her fiance is one lucky guy! Apparently he doesn't really care for cake, though, so they're going to have some wedding pie to go along with their cake. :)

The party was fabulous and the cake was a big hit. I definitely had a great time and I'm pretty sure the bride-to-be did too.

Rainbow pancakes

Oh man. I've not written anything in a while, so now I don't know where to start. I think first we should start with some pancakes. It's always a good idea to start with pancakes. In fact, that's how I started my day - we made sweet potato pancakes! Yum! My husband is a great pancake flipper, and Patrick, my brother, is a great pancake eater. These rainbow pancakes were my favorite pancake recipe ever - super almond pancakes.

Patrick gives these a (really tall) thumbs up.

Katie, Chris, and Patrick's super almond pancakes

Adapted from Giada DeLaurentis

Whip up your favorite pancake recipe (if you want a special treat, use almond milk instead of regular!), then add 1tsp almond extract. Pour each pancake out on the pan, and drop little bits of almond paste into the pancake - it will melt a little and get nutty and gooey all in the pancake. It's like a sweet little surprise with each bite!

If you want rainbow pancakes, just separate the batter into cups and color each one with food coloring. I think you can figure that part out. You have to do a lot of dishes afterward, but I think it's worth the effort. :)

Many more posts to come!