Then and Now

Has much changed over the last 5 years?

You tell me...

Graduation May 2006

Now July 2011

Not much - we pretty much look the same.  Different hair, different jobs.  I mean we actually have jobs :)

After being close friends for 4 years in college, the miles and years between us does not change the comfort or flow of conversation with each other.  Lots of laughs and reminiscing about old times.

It did not matter what we were doing over the weekend as long as we were together.

But for those who are curious about our LA adventures here you go:

Friday night - stayed up talking until 2 am and then all 3 slept together in a king size bed.  Good thing we haven't put on any weight since college.  ;)

Saturday:

     -  am:  brunch at the Grove, sadly no celeb sightings

     -  pm: spend the afternoon at the X-factor taping.  X-factor is a new reality TV show coming out this fall.  It's a singing competition.  Grand prize winner gets a 5million dollar record deal.  We saw 35 of the final 70 contestants from 200,000.  The first few acts were so bad we thought it was a joke and that we were on candid camera .  They later redeemed themselves with some talent.  My fav was a little girl - probably 10 years old.  Guess you know what I'll be watching this fall.

Then dinner after the show and drove around to see Hollywood Blvd and Sunset - nothing terribly exciting.

Sunday:

   -  am:  bfast at Venice beach and then walked around Venice Beach - much more grimy than I remember, so we drove up to Santa Monica Pier - much nicer.  Did a little walking around, shopping, talking, eating, etc - before heading back to Tucson

Best Friends

Tomorrow is the start of a weekend with two of my college besties!

Ryann - I have seen every year since I've graduated from Trinity.
Nava - I haven't seen since after the summer we graduated.  That's 5 years!

Well...tomorrow night the 3 of us will be reunited once again :)

Nava is back in the states briefly after spending the last 4 years in Haifa, Isreal.  She'll be heading to China to teach English this next year.


College Pics of the 3 of us!

It'll be a fun weekend with many more pics.  And lots of talking, laughing, and catching up!

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I've been MIA because I was on nights the week before last and then headed back to Tucson.  

Since being home, I've been unpacking and catching up on my long long long list of things to do!

I almost forgot

So what is the perfect, most refreshing drink to end a day out in the hot hot sun?  

A sonic - strawberry limeade slush!  YUMMY! 

Taken after my day at Monument Valley.  Gotta love the chunks of strawberries - I'm not such a big fan of having to maneuver my straw around those lime wedges to get to the good stuff though.

What's your favorite summer drink?

(and my truly favorite summer drink is the Mojito - that's not an option currently as my mint is in Tucson and I am currently residing in a dry county)

Monument Valley

As promised here are some of my pictures from Monument Valley.
You may recognize some of the scenery as it has been filmed for multiple movies and commercials.  I am sure my Grandparents would recognize it as they have seen every western movie ever made at least 5 times.
My mother recalled Forrest Gump and that this is where he turned around and decided that he was done running.

Still driving up to the Valley.

View from the lookout at the visitors center.  After realizing that the guided tour was $65 for 1.5 hrs on the back of a truck in some benches that had been bolted down without air conditioning, I quickly decided that off-roading in my SUV with air conditioning for only the price of my gas was a much better deal.  So....off I went down that little dirt bath you see in the above picture for 17miles.  The most off-roading I or my car has ever seen!

Me - to prove that I was there.

The different buttes and mesas each have their own names.  This one is the 3 sisters.

This is the Rain God Mesa.  It looks as if water has been poured over the top of it.

The next 2 pictures follow in succession of this one - as if panning to the right.

The Northern Window.

Small Town Life

You would think that I would be used to living in a small town, I grew up in one.  But not anymore - it's also very different when the only people I know are the ones I work with.  Every doc and nurse practitioner or physician assistant I have met does not live in Tuba.  They come up to work for a few days and then skidattle outta here.  Which I plan on doing the same.  Actually I did do the same yesterday, on my day off - I took a day trip to Monument Valley.

First some info about TC:
Tuba City has a population of nearly 10,000, twice that of Willows, but the catch is that the people are spread waaaayyyyy out.

Population density of Willows:  2,146.2/sq mi
Population density of Tuba city: 921.6/sq mi

Yet TC was not lost to the fast food chains.  They have a McDonalds, Taco Bell, KFC, Subway, and even a SONIC!
There is one grocery store, which is small with very little in ways of fresh fruit and vegetables.  It's a good thing I made a trip to my buddy Trader Joe and stocked up before I left.  Last night I had gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce (will also be my lunch today) from Trader Giotto.

Thankfully I have wii-fi internet at the place where I am staying otherwise I think I might go crazy with boredom!  And my baby, Penny had to stay at home.    :(

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Anyhoo.... I was refreshed and rejuvenated after my day trip to Monument Valley yesterday.

Here is just a preview of the trip.  More pictures to follow:

Have a Happy 4th of July!  I'll be working until midnight :)

A big bad second year!

In case you haven't heard - I am now an upper level resident.  Say What?!  Yup that's right - I've graduated from my internship and have moved on to my second year.  That means I'm 1/3 of the way done.
There are 8 new interns who will be under me starting tomorrow, except for that I am out of town on an away rotation, again.
I'll be working in the Emergency Department for the next several weeks.  I disappeared off the face of my blog because I was working night shift for multiple nights prior to leaving for Tuba City.  And let me tell you - we were busy.  I had nearly 4 admissions every night for the first few nights on, with multiple patient's in the ICU.  It was great experience.

Sarah and I at our promotion dinner!  yay!

At the promotion dinner as 2nd years, we introduced the incoming interns to the department and in the process we passed on a "pearl" to them.  A "pearl" is just a small piece of wisdom we picked up along the way.  My pearl was that even at the end of your day, or in the middle of the night when you are woken up from sleep, if a nurse calls with a concern or issue with a patient - think to yourself, if that was my grandmother, or father, would I want someone to go evaluate them?  Usually that's enough to get me off my bum to see the patient.  Sadly, it's rather easy to become jaded and calloused to many complaints and common problems and easy to lose perspective.  Asking myself that question usually takes the frustrated, tired, stressed me out of the picture and puts it all back into perspective.  Does it mean I'm happy about going to see the patient all the time? heck no - but should I, probably.

Driving, driving, driving....nearly 6 hours!

Pretty sunset! 

Have you met my friend?

I've made a new friend since I've moved to Tucson.  He's great, because he helps feed me good food and fast (that's the key).  His name is: Trader Joe.
Sometimes he goes by different names it depends on his mood.  If he's frying up something from south of the border he goes by Trader Jose, or if he's headed out east Trader  Ming.

Following a rule made by my partner in crime, Sarah, I have to buy something new to try at every visit!

Here are some of my recent purchases.  Sorry for the blurry pictures - I took them quickly with my iphone before putting them away!

This was a new one - small bite sized pieces of bananas covered in chocolate.  mmm...mmm....good, especially because it's frozen & it's hot hot hot in Tucson now.

Probably my favorite type of cuisine from TJs is the frozen indian food.  There's a yummy chicken tikki masala and another Channa masala that's not frozen.  Great with the frozen naan.

Falafel - pretty good when in the mood for "vegetable meatballs" (that's what my mom calls them).  A little dry, but perfect when hummus is added.

Sief's absolute favorite - Mochi ice cream.

Haven't tried - I'll let you know if it's any good.  There is a chicken chow mein that is frozen and pretty good (not pictured).

And of course they have beer and wine - another must to survive intern year.  The prosecco is one of my favorites and and almond sparkling wine.