Attempting.

Attempting to study for the last exam of the semester. Oh pharmacology...how I hate thee. Next semester = mama/baby classes = happy Ashley.

I've been studying in the basement of the college of medicine with Christian and it's actually been a nice place to study. Quiet, but still with people around, wifi, bathroom, water cooler, ping pong table for study breaks. Oh...and Nerf gun wars (carefully avoiding "assassination" down here). Let me tell you...the future doctors of Arizona are very good shots with the Nerf guns (and exceptional Mario Kart players...the Wii is for study breaks too). It's actually really conducive to progress because when they study hard for shorter periods broken up by fun breaks, everyone seems to get more out of the material.

So much to get done in my little month-long break between semesters (the one and only long-ish break of my program). Plus, DC for clinical prep in May and the ACNM Conference in June (plus Step 1 for Chris...AHHH!). No joke, it will be Christmas before we know it. Not that that would be a terrible thing.

Okay...break over.

XO,
Ash

PS - MAD MEN PREMIER TONIGHT! GET PUMPED. Yes, we're having a party (duh).

Happy Match Day!

Most of you that read this blog know exactly what incredibly exciting "holiday" I'm talking about. It's Match Day 2012, the day for fourth year medical students where the culmination of [almost] four long hard years of work presents itself in one little envelope that contains the direction of your life (and your family's!) for the next 3-7 years. For those of you who don't know, I like this article for a better understanding of Match Day (although it no longer takes place on the third Thursday of March).

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To the partners and families of 4th year medical students, especially the wives whose blogs I've come to love for their offering little glimpses into our future, I hope this day was everything you hoped it would be and that your match fills you with joy and excitement. As far away as this day feels like it is for us, I realize that I'll be taking my second to last "first day of school photo" (you can see the photos from years 1 and 2 here) very shortly. MS3 and clinical rotations start for Christian in June (or July?) and my own clinicals begin in May. Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. 

I got to watch the live stream of Match Day and was so happy to see all the smiles. Because Chris had a class and couldn't listen to the live stream, while I watched I fed all the match results to him and some classmates over Google chat. Because this is only the second matching class of the this particular campus (the first class ever graduated last year), it is exciting to see the high caliber matches being made by students from a program that is still in its beginnings. As excited as I was to watch this year's match, I/we don't really know the fourth year students as well as we do the first and third year students. They were already in their clinical rotations (rarely on campus) by the time Christian started year 1. This means that next year will surely be an incredibly emotional and exciting experience for us as we watch the current third year students match, many of whom have become friends. Not to mention we'll be only one year away. ;)

So Happy Match Day, everyone. And be thankful for the doctors in your life. Their journey is a crazy roller coaster ride and my appreciation for them grows every day of our crazy roller coaster ride. 

"So if you care to find me, look to the western sky!"

Last night I finally got to use my birthday present and went with Christian to see the national tour of Wicked at Gammage Auditorium in Tempe!!!! We got snazzed up, I wore shoes covered in sequins because I can, went to dinner, and headed to the show. This was my first time seeing Wicked and it totally lived up to the hype. We had the greatest time and I can't wait until I'm working so I can afford to go to the theater on a regular basis. Love, love, love, love, love. I know they're coming back to Tucson next year and the show is still running on Broadway. If you get the chance to see it, don't hesitate! We both loved it so much.

Happy Birthday to me! 

Why are you people chasing me?

I still can't believe I signed up (and paid money) to have people chase me down for 13.1 miles (this is assuming I don't end up dead last). What was I thinking? I honestly have no clue, but I am so pumped. A few weeks ago, my good friend Lacey called me up to see if I'd be interested in running the Disneyland half marathon with her. Bottom line, if it involves Disneyland you really don't have to ask me twice (I don't know if I even heard the half marathon part). When we found out the race was sold out already, we started thinking...do we want to run a big race, even if it doesn't involve Mickey Mouse? As I've been trying to find a way to help me reach some fitness/health goals I've been working towards, I started thinking that signing up for something with a buddy might help me stay accountable and keep me motivated. We did some searching on halfmarathons.net (which has comprehensive lists of races by state and month) and decided to combine our fitness goal with a vacation. We settled on a weekend in California for the Malibu International Marathon (and half).

We decided we'll spend a day in Disneyland (so Mickey can still be involved...win win), a day in Malibu mentally preparing (AKA eating/shopping/laying on the beach), and Sunday, Nov. 11th, we'll be running 13.1 miles down the beautiful Malibu coast. Anyone who knows me knows I've never EVER been a runner. I was a competitive soccer player from 4th grade through high school and was quite fit when I graduated. Never super skinny (and never great at running long distances) but fit and strong. Fast forward almost 7 years (oh my God, I can't believe I just typed that), thirty or so odd pounds, a bachelor's degree, and a wedding later, I'm not quite the spry soccer player I used to be. I miss feeling strong. And I miss being outside all the time (my favorite thing about playing soccer). So now I'm on my way back and so far it feels really good. 

My running buddy.

I'm on a running budget (like most of my fellow grad school folk), so when it came to gear I decided to stick to the basics. My ankles pronate quite a bit and I need a really supportive running shoes, so I was extremely pleased to find a great pair on sale at a local running shop. I also hit up Marshall's for some running headphones (ear buds + running = no good for me), a new sports bra, and a running tee.

I've seen some hilarious Nike running tees online and these are the ones I found at Marshall's (last one I found online). I think I really might have to purchase this last one. 

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At this point I'm working up to running ~3 miles straight (around 30 minutes of running), which is pretty baseline for half marathon training. Once I achieve this (hopefully by April), I'll dive into adding milage onto a few runs a week. I'm part way through this book and I'm loving it. This sounds corny, but I really am starting to think I can do it. :)

My kind of thinking...

I'm really looking forward to this journey and I'm starting to feel a change already. At the end of each run I feel a little stronger than I did before. And we have enough time that I don't feel too rushed. As they say, slow and steady wins the race. 

Send me your good workout vibes (or if you've done this before, your advice)!

XO,

Ash

This past few weeks I:

Studied a ton (and passed that stupid pharm test). Alongside my study partner (who also passed his stupid test!). This time we studied at Chris' school and it always makes me realize how much I miss having a physical school to go to for studying, classes, and dare I say, exams. You know you're in med school when this is your work station:

And yes, those are both his. Something Christian [usually] does well is balancing hard and serious studying with moments of crazy fun/procrastination. And it's actually quite effective. Tonight it was our impromptu ping pong game, then Mario Kart with the other boys studying with us. You can see Jeff in the background, possibly winning.

Medical students are serious about playing. Frankly, there's a level of seriousness to everything they do. And that includes ping pong. There's a table in the basement and every year they have the mother of all ping pong tournaments. This year's tourney is a few rounds in and Christian is still alive! Way to go, honey!

When we played our little impromptu game he was impressed at how much better I've become since he started medical school. I'm glad that I too have gained a new skill in medical school.

Also, there has been: house cleaning for movie night (involving lots of Glee over the big speakers), Viesa snuggling (because that always happens around here), and me doing something totally crazy.

I SIGNED UP FOR A HALF MARATHON! WHAT THE ....... ?! (I know. That's what I said.)

 

I better get training for that, huh? I'll do a full post on more specific plans in the near future (when the shock wears off). Until then, send me good running juju. I'm gonna need it.

Love,
Ash, Chris, & Viesa