Snow Week

Last week was a crazy whirlwind of travel, sickness, and snow.

Sunday I drove back from Charleston, SC after a quick weekend trip with fellow Phi Lambda Sigma Leadership Conference. Right when I got back home I started to feel achey, and lo and behold my temperature was in the triple digits by sun down. The temperature fluctuated from 99-102 degrees F until Wednesday when it finally subsided.

Come Wednesday, Winter Storm Pax hit North Carolina pretty hard. Luckily my classes were canceled already (but not the University), so I was home already. Around noon, it started to snow very aggressively to the point where within an hour, the roads were un-drivable.

It was Atlanta Part 2. The University proceeded to cancel all classes AND close all offices right in the middle of the horrible snow. There are pictures of classmates walking 3 miles home in the heavy snow because the buses were stuck in the crazy gridlock caused by wreck after wreck. The news said police departments fielded 600 calls in a span of 3 hours! Here's a traffic shot from Google Maps:

Again, I was in the comfort of my blankets watching the snow all day long. Normally, on the rare chance it snows in Chapel Hill, we wait all day for it only for the snow to come for 30 minutes at 11PM. This time it was hours on hours of heavy, heavy snow that didn't stop until the middle of the night. 

Wednesday was also the scheduled Duke vs. UNC basketball game which I actually had tickets for! My roommate was actually about to head out the door to walk 4 miles in the snow to get to the Dean Dome, when the Duke game was postponed. It made so many people angry because they were either waiting outside since 12PM in the heavy snow waiting to get in, or drive for hours to go just a few miles to make it to campus when they finally decided to postpone it. 

The next day, there was no precipitation at the start of the day. In the afternoon, freezing rain started to fall, then sleet, then finally snow again. This time, I had the urge to venture outside! 

Here's our porch alone: 

My roommate and I decided to walk to our friend's house on the other side of the neighborhood. This is a shot of the street on the way there. You can't even see the road! There were very rarely any cars that came through, and you could barely see the curb. 

This is how deep our feet were: 

Even going up some stairs was an adventure: 

Then before going back inside, we finished up our bucket list of throwing snow balls...

 ...making a snowman...

...and making snow angels!

So I had Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of last week off. I'm not complaining!

Another Week of Food for One

I'm the kind of person that goes in and out of phases, and I'm still not convinced that this food obsession isn't just another one of my phases. From a positive perspective, maybe now that pharmacy school isn't so insanely hectic it is giving me more time to try new things. How long do I have to keep this up for it to be cemented into my routine? If only working out would have the same effect on me...

I must say, this new method of meal planning has definitely cut down on my random purchases at the grocery store. I still spend an hour at the store wandering through each aisle, but if I see something I want I think, "What could I make with it?". If nothing comes to mind, I sadly put it back down. 

But that's not to say that Nutella didn't make it into my cart, even though it wasn't on my list. Although I would consider that an essential pantry stock item. 

This weekend I've decided not to go grocery shopping. Instead of buying new ingredients to try out new recipes, I'll work with what I already have and try to shave down my pantry a bit. Shopping and cooking for one is extremely difficult! 

Some of the things I have in mind to make from things currently in my pantry and fridge:

• Venezuelan empanadas 
• Tortellini cooked numerous ways 
• Whole wheat bread sandwiches 
• Cucumber and feta salad 
• Good ol' faithful: EGGS

We will see how this salvage week goes! 

Curses of Cooking for One

We're 3 weeks into the new year, and this long weekend seems like a good chance to evaluate progress on my new year's resolutions.

I had a couple of vague resolutions relating to food:

1. Try creating a new dish of food every week
2. Eat less preservatives

In general, the idea is simply to cook more at home, bring lunch to school, and eat out less often. Now, when I say "eat out" I generally mean the unhealthy stuff - I still want to explore new dishes at nice restaurants! And actually, I feel like one of the "curses" of learning how to cook more meals is that I generally don't want to eat at places with meals I feel like I could make myself. 

One of the steps I tried to start out with was to make a weekly meal plan. Figuring out what to make has fed my addictions to Food Network and Pinterest. Last week was rather successful; here's what I made: 

• Bread pudding - I had half a French baguette that was reaching its last breath, so I tried making my first bread pudding ever. It turned out pretty well (although I have nothing to compare it to!). That brings me to another curse of cooking more: there's no one to eat these dishes along with me! 
• Orange Chicken - This turned out very yummy too. But if I were to do it again, I wouldn't bread it. The breading ended up coming off and just lingered in the sauce. 
• Shrimp and Mango Salsa Two Ways - This was something I made without a recipe. I've made tons of pico de gallo, so the mango salsa was just another variation. Along with the shrimp and fixin's, I was able to make a few meals two different ways! 
• Noodles with Peanut Butter Sauce - No pictures unfortunately, but this was a delicious recipe that came from "In The Small Kitchen" by Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine. I bought this cookbook when Errol and I moved in together - and had a small kitchen! 

Overall, I've had a successful few weeks of not letting professional responsibilities get in the way of responsibilities to myself. 

Ringing in 2014 - Progressive Dinner

As the temperature sinks lower and lower in the night during this Polar Vortex, I'm reminded of how nice it was spending a month in Florida where I could wear shorts and flip flops every day - and there were news alerts for temps below 60 degrees.

And what better way to get your mind off the cold than thinking about food? It's part of my recipe for happiness.

For this new year's celebration, we had a "Progressive Dinner" between 3 families.

The first family had appetizers:

I thought the handmade sushi deserved a closer look :) 

Second family had entree:















And our family had desserts:


Here's a compilation picture from each house!

And the night ended with champagne, kissing our loved ones, and fireworks! 

Top 13 of '13 - A Year in Review

It's now 2014, and everyone is excited for having another chance at a fresh start to accomplish our goals. But before embarking on a new year, here were my highlights of 2013!  It was hard to pick just 13 things because so much happened all year long, but these were all times that impacted my life in some way.

1) Hardest semester of pharmacy school (Spring of second year) -  I will admit that this past fall semester of the 3rd year was pretty difficult, but I was only able to succeed through it because of  growing tremendously during the PY2 spring semester. I "perfected" my study habit (about time, right?) and, along with the help of friends, survived monthly calendars that looked like this:

2) Seeing my parents finish their first half marathon in Disney - My parents were once again examples of perseverance and dedication by completing their first half marathon, and I even got to see it! The Princess Half Marathon was fun to watch, with all of the costumes and the free entrance to the park.  I even saw an old friend from UF! You can read more about my parents' experience in my Mom's blog HERE.

3) Walking through the Colosseum in Rome - The Colosseum was the first site Errol and I visited during our summer trip to Italy. I'll never forget the excitement I felt walking through the entrance for the first time and seeing the massive structure. In that moment, I thought "Ahh... I'm finally in Italy."

4) Seeing Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica - We did so many things in Rome that it was difficult to cut down to two things, but seeing the Pope was something I never thought would happen. I planned that trip down to the hour, and seeing the Pope was something I thought I would have to wait in line and pay to do so it was never on my radar (and I also assumed he was out of town). To be able to see the Pope after attending mass in St. Peter's Basilica was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

5) Wine tasting in Greve in Chianti - In the Italian wine country, it's almost required to do a wine tasting. My first introduction to red wines was a positive experience, and I'm hopeful that some day I will graduate to that level. But the really special part was the food plate we got to try with the wines, full of meats and cheeses (and that delicious 10-year-old balsamic vinegar).

6) Riding a scooter through the Tuscan hillside - I know, it's super cliche. But it's cliche for a reason... it was an amazing experience! Lucky for me, I didn't drive so I got to spend 95% concentration on the amazing landscape (5% concentrating to stay as still as possible so that I didn't cause imbalance with the scooter). Honestly, the entire time in Greven should be counted as a "Top 13".

7) Attending a cooking class in Florence - While this class was pretty basic (i.e., teaching how to properly cut an onion), I have made dishes from this cooking class numerous times already and will always have it to talk about. The experience also started with a cheese and balsamic vinegar tasting... yum.

8) Getting lost around Venice - Venice in itself is an experience. It was a good thing we did Venice last because at this point in the trip Errol and I were a bit arts'd out (see what I did there?) and the entire island is a labyrinth of things to see. The best part about Venice is to simply ride the vaporetto and get off at every stop, seeing something new each time. Don't walk across the Rialto bridge, ride underneath it and see it's beauty.

9) Attending the Utah School of Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies - Right after the trip to Italy, it was less than 48 hours before I was off to Salt Lake City, UT for an experience that changed my views on the disease of addiction and those suffering from it. It opened my perspective and increased my understanding and tolerance of this deadly, chronic disease.

10) Road trip to Ann Arbor, MI - One of my closest friends in pharmacy school went to University of Michigan, and since our first year to see each others' football stadiums. It took 3 years, but we finally did it! We didn't go to just any game, but "Under The Lights 2" against Notre Dame (and the last time they would play them). It was only their second night game ever, and the halftime show was pretty amazing! "The Big House" did not disappoint.

11) Road trip to Gainesville, FL - Second round of road trips was back to The Swamp where we got to see the Gators actually win against Tennessee. I'm so glad we went earlier in the season. It was so much fun to be back in the stands for a game, and for the first time as an alumna!

12) Finding out my aunt was alive after Typhoon Haiyan - In November, one of the strongest typhoons in recorded history directly hit the city of Tacloban and surrounding islands. Tacloban is where my mom is from, and her only sister and 2 aunts still live in the city. For days my mom did not know what happened to her, and only had devastating pictures all over the internet to search. It wasn't until someone wrote on her Facebook that she was alive, that we could finally have a good night sleep. My family was even on the Central Florida news! You can see the clip HERE.

13) Celebrating the end of the year with a progressive dinner and fireworks - This was a unique way to celebrate the new year! Between 3 different families, one family did appetizers, another did entree, and we did desserts. Festivities began at 6PM and it was a nice, relaxing night with good company. There were even some leftover fireworks from July 4th so we got to shoot some pretty nice ones! It was a great end to 2013, and start to 2014.

Summertime

Another free moment means another promise to keep up with blogging again. I swear this time to be true (as I always say)!

But really, this past year kicked my butt, and I can honestly say I'm a better person for it, and will hopefully be a better pharmacist too. Unfortunately any mental break I had this past semester all I wanted to do was lay in bed, watch TV, and mindlessly look around Facebook in 3 different tabs.

Some things I did this year:

1) Racked up thousands of Delta Skymiles and Southwest Rewards Points. Glory of pharmacy conferences and a long distance relationship.
2) Took 21 exams + 4 finals in the span of 4 months (minus Spring Break)
3) Somehow got the clutch factor. Three classes this semester ended up with final grades between 89.5 - 90%
4) Learned the significance of "Just keep swimming". Had a few breakdowns this year from the stress, workload, etc. But my friends (and not necessarily willpower) helped get me through because we were all in the same boat together.

But the year is now over, and will just be a distant memory. Because in just a few weeks, Errol and I will be embarking on our first Eurotrip! Two weeks in Italy; I can't wait for you all to share the experience with me!

A Year In Review

Nearly one year ago, Errol and I embarked on a big step in our relationship: moving in together. We knew it would be temporary, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't imagine the day when we would have to finally have to be apart. 

On July 23, 2011, a Chrysler Sebring, a Nissan Sentra S-ER, and a Lexus RX300 traveled from Gainesville, FL to Chapel Hill, NC. My family came to help move us in and get settled. Each of our cars was filled to the rim, with none of us having visual from the rearview mirrors. It was the first (and only, I hope) time where I had to make that drive all by myself. 

The apartment was a small, one bed/one bath apartment on the second floor. The first month wiped out my savings, where I had to buy things for the living room, bedroom, and apartment. We didn't split costs because I would be keeping all of it once Errol moved. Slowly but surely we purchased items off Craigslist to make the apartment a home. 

School started for me, and it became very difficult for me to find a balance with high-volume coursework, meeting new people, being as involved as possible in school opportunities, and of course, being a girlfriend. At the same time I was starting school, Errol was working on medical school applications, job applications, and dealing with overall stress and loneliness of being with a busy girlfriend.

Errol began working at CVS, at the same store as me, as a full-time pharmacy technician. There, he began to have something to fill his time, and a place to make friends. Luckily, the other technicians are generally around our same age.

The year went on, and the days remained the same. I studied, went to meetings, volunteered in the community. He worked, worked, and worked. Our scheduled rarely matched and most days I would be up at 7AM and not see him until 9PM or later. But we tried our hardest to do things together, like cook special meals, eat at nice restaurants, and explore other places.

Errol quit CVS at the end of May, and I finished my introductory hospital rotation then too. That left all of June for Errol to say goodbye to North Carolina, and to everyone else.

The final week of June was jam-packed with moving. Moved from our old place to my new place, then Errol down to Orlando. I was able to put that into one sentence, but I can’t think of anything that will really capture the magnitude of labor that occurred there. And we made the most of every free moment, checking one thing after another off of our bucket lists.  

 Now the countdown begins for July 20 when we will be reunited once more. 

Saying goodbye at the airport

Sadness

Tonight will be the last time Errol and I sleep in our cozy little apartment. The process has already begun to move into the new place that will house three student pharmacists of the Class of 2015. That is exciting, but moving out of Errol and my first home is difficult to bear.

All week, since getting back from Puerto Rico on Sunday, I have been randomly breaking down in tears at the thought of Errol leaving. Even now, tears begin to well. It leaves me in the tough spot of trying to not think about it. But when I don't think about it, time seems to slip through my fingers.

It's already Friday, and it just hit me that tonight will be the last night that I sleep here. Tomorrow morning, movers that I hired will pick up my sofa and bed. We will spend the morning moving things back and forth, and once it his triple digit heat, we will stop and spend some time together. I guess it's nice that it forces us to do some bucket list things.

The one thing that will definitely be on my to-do list tomorrow that I've always wanted to do: cook an egg on the sidewalk!

The Long Journey

I'm 3 days behind in recording my rotations, but I'll get to that later.

Today, a long journey finally came to an end.

After 4 years of rigorous course work...
summers spent being a science camp counselor...
3 years in a research lab...
months spent taking Kaplan MCAT Prep Course...
26 practice MCAT's...
spending thousands applying to medical/osteopathic schools...
an MCAT score below his target...
months spent re-studying and re-taking the MCAT...
getting ready for spring senior finals with a chemistry major...
withdrawing applications to medical/osteopathic schools...
figuring out a new plan of action...
deciding to take a year off...
getting an MCAT score to be proud of...
re-applying to all of the medical/osteopathic schools...
moving to North Carolina...
trying for months to find a job...
having to figure out how to spend time while his girlfriend was busy with school...
making new friends at work...
waiting to hear back from the dozens of schools re-applied...
finally getting that first interview...
finally getting that first acceptance...
getting wait-listed to his top choice...

and waiting... waiting... waiting...

Errol has FINALLY been accepted into UCF College of Medicine! The College promises to be the future of medicine in Florida, with state of the art equipment (it's only 4 years old), progressive teaching styles, and is strategically centered in the middle of hospitals being constructed.

There were so many times Errol felt disappointed, hopeless, and that nothing would ever just go right. I don't know how one person can go through so much stress, disappointment, and uncertainty. But it has been my job to support him through all of the ups and downs. I like to say that I have done so to the best of my ability. He has persevered through numerous trials and tribulations, and he can now say that he is a future MD.

Only thing left is to celebrate! I'll be taking him out to 411 West, which is the closest place I have seen here to Leonardo's 706.

Homesick

Being this far away from home, it's inevitable to miss it from time to time, especially during the holidays.

With my second semester of pharmacy school looming, I feel winter vacation drifting away and stress coming to replace it.

Last night I celebrated New Year's Eve at a friend's place. It was my 3rd new year with Errol, which was nice, but it was my first year being away from home.

There's always a huge party at home and I missed it for the first time ever :(

I really love it here, but there are times when I miss being around fellow Gators and around family where I can feel like a daughter again.

Sometimes I just wish that I could just have dinner cooked for me and not have to clean it up afterwards.

My family a couple of minutes after midnight, with me on the phone.

Our latest family portrait... 

Eleven things of 2011 (A Year in Review)

2011 was a year of many changes, and many exciting events.

In no particular order (except maybe somewhat chronological?), my top eleven moments of 2011!

1) Interview at my dream school, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy


My first time flying, renting a car, and checking into a hotel all by myself. The trip was extremely stressful, but it was wonderful having the chance to visit the pharmacy school on the top of my list. Even though my interview was in January, I didn't hear until March while I was in Waynesville for Spring Break. It was definitely worth the wait!

Outside of one of the ESoP buildings.

2) Spring break in Waynesville, NC 


First road trip with friends was to a quaint mountain cabin in Waynesville. It was a wonderful trip filled with snow, nature trails, fireplaces, and time with friends. Even though spring break is normally spent on the beach, the trip was truly one to be remembered.

Our friend's log cabin

3) Dance Marathon at UF 


After an exhausting year with my partner, Megan, Phi Sigma Pi raised $14,000 for Children's Miracle Network at Shands Hospital. Brothers and friends stood on their feet for 26.2 hours in honor of the Miracle Children and University of Florida raised a university-record of over $700,000. It was an amazing experience filled with teamwork, inspiration, and many successes.

I miss being a part of the DM fun, but understand that my time has passed and I know that PSP DM flourishes without me :)

The 2011 PSP dancers, plus 2 guests! 

UF Dance Marathon 2011 grand total 

4) Became a Phi Sigma Pi Alumna


Six semesters of tears and laughter, and finally came senior meeting and Banquet. The drama associated with PSP is enough to have its own TV show, but we truly do great things when we work together towards one goal.

And I finally got a paddle :)

DM chairs of 2011 :) 

Opening my very own beautiful paddle 

5) Graduation from UF 

Four years of many ups and downs, good grades and bad, new friends and old friends, and memories that will last a lifetime. I got to graduate with my boyfriend and with family and best friend watching in the stands of the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. It was a beautiful day filled with lots of joy!

Family at graduation. So glad they sported the orange and blue! 

6) Family trip to Vegas 

One of my mom's cousins lives in Las Vegas, and we have visited them a number of times, but this was my first trip being over 21. Vegas is great for all ages (despite what people think), but DEFINITELY a ton more fun when of legal drinking/gambling age. Lucky for me, their daughter was 21 and showed me the party side of Sin City. Also played lots of Blackjack with my dad :)

We also took a little side trip to Zion National Park and saw beautiful sites! I also attended my first Food Truck Festival... YUM.

One of the yummy food trucks! 

Cactus flower 

7) Summer trip to Atlanta, GA


Errol and I attended our first wedding together in Alpharetta, GA. It was a beautiful ceremony and fun reception. We also went to the Aquarium! Highly recommended :)

Wedding couple 

Whale shark at the aquarium 

8) Moved to Chapel Hill, NC 

Last summer in Gainesville was HOT, and spent lots of time working and letting my brain recharge. Got to say goodbye to great friends and experience all of my favorite spots one last time. Finally, the day came to say au revoir to the Swamp, and hello Tarheels. The packing took FOREVER and the drive sucked (not nearly enough sleep and had to do it all alone... separate cars), but we made it alive. We made a stop in Savannah, GA for lunch and got to see Paula Dean's store!

My new roommate is my boyfriend of almost 4 years; a temporary move for him during his year off. The big step in our relationship was rocky at first because I was spending a lot of time making new friends and he didn't have a job yet. But once he started working, he started making his own friends at work too! Now it's better than ever, and I am going to be very sad when he leaves next summer.

Car packed to the rim. 

Outside Paula Dean's restaurant

First breakfast at the new apartment with makeshift tables 

9) Started pharmacy school


It's been quite an adjustment, and I've never been more busy than I am now, but I'm loving every minute of it. I take everything I learn from school and try to apply it when I'm at work; hopefully that helps things stick! I got to conferences all over the state and region, and learned a lot. I've put myself out there and met a lot of great people! The environment is great, and I can't wait to see what is in store for the next few years.

First Dose of Franklin at The Library 

10) Trip to Asheville, NC

My very first fall, Errol and I took a trip to one of the best places to see the leaves: Asheville! Went to the Biltmore, where we made it just in time to see the Christmas decorations. Also did my first wine tasting, and confirmed my preference to rose and white wine, and distaste for red wine. Went to an apple orchard and had some apple cider doughnuts and fed apples to some beautiful horses.

North Carolina fall is definitely something I could get used to :)

At the apple orchard! I wanted to buy everything in there 

Outside the Biltmore Estate 

My first wine tasting at Biltmore 

11) First drive back home from NC

The long drive is infinitely better when split with someone. Errol and I drove home for the first time since July, and it was so short but very sweet. I got to see my newly remodeled house and spend the Christmas with my wonderful family! Unfortunately, I won't be able to spend New Year's with them (first time EVER... stupid work), but I'll at least be with Errol.

Brand new kitchen! Next on the list: update appliances... 

Family and Godparents 

What were your top moments of 2011? 

I hope that everyone's 2012 is great!