The commute

One thing I miss desperately about my time at BYU was being able to walk, all the time. If I got to drive/get dropped off at work it was lovely, but most of the time I walked everywhere. I miss that.

Especially because I am now in my 4th rotation, and all 4 of them have been in different cities, other than the one I live in. And because traffic in this region is hideous. Horrendous. Not near as bad as D.C. But still horrible.

Today I left work on the east side of Virginia Beach around 5. I had to run 2 small, short errands. I got home at 7:30. Now that is bad for the environment.

We live right next to the bridge-tunnel that leads to the peninsula (where Hampton and Newport News are) and the traffic backs up there like you wouldn't believe. It's bizarre, because the freeway is only 2 lanes for miles and miles leading up to the tunnel... it's not like it's merging traffic. And yet, every single day, traffic backs up like there's a friggin hurricane coming. I don't know if I will ever understand it. Today just happened to be particularly bad. 

So today I say, I can't wait until I can live really close to the places I have to be every single day. Maybe walking distance, even? I miss Provo.

Can you tell I've been home alone all week?

Weekend

We sure had a great weekend... it was a cryin' shame for it to end. One highlight--and dream come true--was when we saw 10-15 dolphins in the water just out from where we were swimming. It was awesome! But of course, no photos of that.

Thanks, you two, for coming to visit! Have a great semester at BYU!

July in photos

July just slipped right on by, and we were busy as ever.

Passing a lamborghini on I-85 in northern NC. It's safe to say it was a defining moment in Burke's life, hence the picture he made me take.

Spending a long weekend with Mom, Dad, and Dill, including an evening hike/swim at Stone Mountain

Celebrating Burke's 26th birthday with candles and his favorite Raisin Cake

Bowling... and Burke got two fantastic scores--an excellent birthday present!

Watching a glass-blowing demonstration and checking out the Chrysler Museum of Art (these are some of my favorite glass sculptures)

Taking our neighbor David to the temple for the first time

Firsts

This week, for the first time, I

-Watched a baby being born. Beautiful, happy and strange. Wonderful. I felt like laughing and crying, but instead I just smiled.

-Assisted with a C-section. Oh my bloody goodness! I couldn't believe how bloody it was and I sure hope that doesn't happen to me. It was pretty incredible too, though. During pregnancy mom's body makes lots of extra blood to more than compensate for birth, so even c-sections usually go okay as far as blood loss goes.

-Scrubbed in for surgery. This is where you get all dressed in sterile gown and gloves in order to assist with surgery. I learned how to do this and all about sterile technique last fall, but I had so far not had the opportunity to scrub in.

-I got profusely sweaty and "about to pass out" sicky during surgery (a hysterectomy) and had to break scrub and sit down. Oh don't worry, this was DAY ONE. I was HORRIFIED. Talk about a fantastic first impression. As it turns out, breakfast really is a good idea.

-Sutured on a real, though asleep and anesthetized, person. So much easier than a pig's foot.

-Drove the camera during a laparoscopic surgery.

It was an incredible week! But firsts are stressful!!! And exhausting! And exciting!!!
I also did some pelvic exams, learned to measure pregnant bellies, and some other such stuff. OBGYN is a pretty fun rotation. It's super weird though that every single patient is an adult woman. Since general surgery is the rotation that I am the most worried about and I have that to look forward to in August, I am really grateful that I'm getting the opportunity now to get some good surgery experience. I am somewhat anxious but excited for what week 2 will bring! 

Dreams, little dreams

This morning I woke up dreaming about kidneys.

For real.

It happens all the time nowadays. I'm studying in my sleep people! Making up for all the time (like, oh, now for example) that I'm not studying when I'm awake.

I wonder if this will continue for the rest of my life. It's fairly annoying, really. But can we blame my brain? When I have been spending the majority of my time lately learning and thinking about the kidneys, what else is it supposed to give me at night?

So I was thinking about my dreams and this little gem of a song popped into my head. Burke brought home a whole slew of CDs from Paraguay, and one day while listening to a CD I had never heard before, we ran across this. And we happen to think it's charming! So I decided to look it up on Youtube.

Here you have it. The lowest budget music video ever made. But do enjoy the song. It's mostly Spanish, but my favorite part is the two little English words in every chorus. And the violin.

Love family time.

Ian, Emma, and Beth came to visit from Utah. Ian and Emma got in later Saturday night, and Beth came in on Sunday morning. It was a blurry, busy Father's Day. We ate breakfast, went to church in my parents ward, Daddy opened his presents, all of my dad's side of the family came over for a get together, and then they had Dillon's eagle scout court of honor at my parent's house. Burke and I unfortunately had to miss that so we could get back home for work on Monday morning. The weekend was lovely, but very busy. 

My family's plan for the week was to go to the beach for a few days, to the beach in southern NC. However, through much persuading, they were convinced to come vacation by us. I couldn't get out of work to go with them, but since they were close we are able to hang out in the evenings. And it was priceless.

The house they stayed in was on the bay, right down the street from us. They were able to go to nicer beaches during the day, but play with us at night.

Emma loves the beach. The sand, the water, the shells, the crabs... she loves it. But she did not want to smile for a picture!

 Bright colored pedicures for Mom's birthday! 

 Ian got a much-needed vacation from his 80+ hour work weeks.

 We enjoyed a little bit of much-needed sister time! So sad to live so far apart.

 Grandpa loves his little girl

...and can provide hours of entertainment for a 4-year-old!

Thanks, family, for coming to Virginia instead! Being able to join in on your vacation a little felt just a bit like a vacation for me.

Weekends and between

A couple of weekends ago I got to help my dear friend Elise celebrate her birthday by going to the Eastern Shore. We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast in a quaint, quiet town. We enjoyed ourselves so much! The bed and breakfast was hilarious. Breakfast was a sit-down, "three course" meal at a dining room table with all of the other guests--who were all old couples. The three of us girls showed up at breakfast following a run on the beach... everybody else was cleaned up and showered and ready for the day. Then we spent literally an HOUR at breakfast waiting for the next food, being polite, and making conversation. It was so funny. Elise's favorite part was when the three of us sat around the piano and played and sang together. It was so lovely to spend that time with Elise and Laurel!  

 That same weekend Burke took the youth to the D.C. temple. It was one of those marathon trips--6 am til 11 at night. So don't worry, he had plenty of fun without me too!

Last weekend was Harborfest. We went on Friday night as soon as I got done with work. We made it in time for most of Gavin Degraw's performance, and Burke, who for some reason unknown to me had previously referred to him as "Gavin De-Blah," also enjoyed the show. Then we looked around for a while, admired the huge ships, watched break-dancers and drummer guys, and then watched Colbie Caillat sing for a while. It's such a cool festival, one of Norfolk's funnest things.

In between weekends we've been busy working. I finished my primary care/internal medicine rotation. Now I'm on a nephrology rotation--that's the kidney specialists. The docs I'm working with are fantastic, but it's been kind of tough. I really started out having no idea what was going on. Week 2 is going better so far, but I'm awfully slow at figuring stuff out. I have learned a lot and I think it's pretty awesome stuff. I've enjoyed getting to be in the hospital and learning the culture there and the way things work. Burke is working hard at home still. Things are going well for him. He is staying extra busy as Young Men President. And I just got called to my 4th different calling in this ward! I was released as a teacher in Relief Society and will now be teaching Gospel Doctrine. I am so anxious about it, but I am also excited to study the Book of Mormon better. 

Next weekend we'll be heading to NC for another whirlwind weekend. Ian, Emma, and Beth are coming for a visit. We'll only get to see them for a day, but we're excited!