Monday, September 26, 2011

My Day Thanks to Pinterest

A cancelled class equals 3 hours of me time! So I decided to try a few things I've been pinning away.  Here is what I accomplished:

The workout started with a 1 mile run at a 9 minute mile pace, walk one lap, then do the work out.  My workout partner and I then walked a lap, got a drink and did it all over again.  Those wall sits are brutal!! A good long stretch and some serious hydration will hopefully keep the pain to a manageable level.
Ouch.  I'll be hurting tomorrow.
Delish!
Then once I got home, I decided to make a new tasty treat.  This was perfect because it was single serving and quick to make.  It was delicious! I may have overcooked it a little bit, but next time I'll use less time on the microwave.  It was super simple to make: mix 1 egg, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1 tbsp softened butter, then add 3-4 tbsp of chocolate chips into a coffee mug.  Toss in a microwave for 1.5 minutes and then enjoy!! It would be amazing with ice cream, but I decided to not get too crazy ;)

So yes, this was my Pinterest inspiration for the day.  I'm totally addicted and spreading the wonder that is pinterest to many friends.   Feel free to message me if you want an invite.

Friday, September 23, 2011

I-L-L-I-N-I!


I guess I’ll be switching to Thursday and Sunday updates.  Yay school for crapping on my life.  At least on Thursdays I’m at placement.  Unfortunately it’s been really slow with doctors out and some of the Audiologists as well.  There is also a student from another local-ish school so we spend a lot of time fighting over patients and getting hours.  Needless to say, it’s been interesting.  She’s a 3rd year so she’s seen pretty much everything so I get the leftovers during the day.  It’s been a slow few weeks, but I’m learning a lot and seeing a lot of different things.  At least I’m using the extra time to get going on homework and get caught up on reading.  I’m going to start bringing my computer so I don’t have to fight the hospital firewall all the time. 

I’ve delayed on posting because a certain boyfriend was being a fun distraction early this week.  He was in town for about 5 days and we had a blast being together.  I think he was tired of spending time with his parents after a week and a half.  While he was home he did get his fancy new truck and some kitchen stuff, you know- those adult things haha.  He was also a nice subject for some cerumen management and enjoyed watching me geek out when we ran him as a subject in our evoked potentials lab.  He survived the mild abrasions (skin scraping with very fine sandpaper to get rid of dead skin) we had to do for the electrode placement- and still had some hair left, ha!

While he was in town we did dinner and a movie night out, went to a football game and walked around campus quite a bit.  We also tailgated before the game at a local bar and had a really good time with my classmates.  It was loads of fun and I had entirely too much to drink.  But, fun fact… my friends think boyfriend is a keeper.  Gee, so do I! We also had dinner with my cousin one day when she was driving through town on her way home.  It was good to catch up with her after staying with her all summer.  I also got to take a ride in her fancy new car.  There must be something in the water with all these new car purchases going on! Better than babies, haha.

But here are some photos to check out- Go Illini!! We won and beat a ranked team! I guess this is the first time in 10 years that U of I has started out 3-0 on the season.  Let’s hope they can keep this up when the start playing other Big 10 teams, that’ll be the big test.   My Dad actually called tonight and managed to score seats for this weekend's game as well!  Guess I'm going to yet another game! 

Oh hey Memorial Stadium! 3rd row end zone seats :)

Once a band nerd, always a band nerd.

Football under the lights!

Block I!

Halftime show.

Taken via the monitor.

Huddled up.

Final knee before the clock ran out.

Illini win!

Sometimes he's super adorable.


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Audiology Brain

I've decided, I have this condition called "Audiology Brain".  Now whenever someone says an acronym or condition my brain automatically flashes to hearing loss and how it relates to Audiology.  I also seem to have lost all sorts of common sense.  I can rattle off otosclerosis or any other disease etiology, pathology, and prognosis, yet I'm stumped by the word 'purpose'.  I actually had to look it up in a dictionary the other day.... pathetic I tell you!

In other Audiology related news- I am LOVING my placement yet again this semester.  I'm at a local hospital so I can take the bus in 15 minutes rather than drive 1.5 hours each way :) It's a great place and I love getting to do all the special balance testing and newborn hearing tests but I just wish there was more stuff going on!  One of the ENTs that is attached to the office is off on vacation this week so the patients are rather sparse.  I only got 4 hours of work in today when I was there a full 8 hours.  At least I am getting some experience in balance testing, which is hard to come by (fingers crossed no 'splashers', that's the code name for someone who gets so dizzy from the testing they vomit- gross). 

And today I got to play with some pretty cute babies.  Thankfully they were all normal hearing so I didn't have to tell any parents bad news.  I did have my first profound hearing loss evaluation yesterday, and man was it rough.  Long day for both me and the patient.  What was supposed to be a 2 hour appointment turned into 3... man was I stressed.  Here is to hoping the most powerful hearing aids on the market will help this poor woman regain some contact with the world.

I'm currently coming down with something- dang sick people from the hospital! But, I need to get over it quickly, because boyfriend is coming into town for the last long weekend of block leave!
Football tickets and Illini apparel have been purchased, and there is rumor of a date night out on the town.  Go away sinus crap, I have some soldier spoiling to do.  I'll be sure to post photos, I'm very excited to go to my first football game at my grad school.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Holy cow it's September!


Oh my goodness have I been a bad blogger!  There is no excuse really, I’ve just been busy chasing around a soldier and starting up another semester. 

Labor Day weekend I went with boyfriend and his family and made the 8 hour trek from home sweet home to their family farm in Nebraska.  This was going to be the first time for me to meet the entire extended family.  We got to Iowa, picked up boyfriend’s little brother and drove on out.  Saturday night we spent with his grandparents and one aunt/uncle before they left for Las Vegas.  It was really a shame they booked the trip during the weekend, but oh well we made the most of it. 

The first night we got to see the farm and got to go for a ride in his grandparent’s restored 1938 Ford.  It was the car his grandfather and grandmother took out to Colorado for their honeymoon.  Needless to say, we got a lot of flak while riding in the car.  It was romantic though, and I loved going on a sunset drive around the farm and near the lake.  

1938 Ford his grandparents drove to CO on their honeymoon.  They had it restored for their 60th wedding anniversary.

Waving and driving up the lane.

Boyfriend's family plus me.

Sun setting on the lake on the farm

Backseat with the windows down
The next day I got shown around boyfriend’s mothers’ hometown.  I saw the church his parents were married at and had some of the local cuisine.  Shortly after that we went to his other aunt and uncle’s house for a full family picnic to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary and boyfriend being home.  I had such a blast and although it was overwhelming to meet practically everyone in one go, at least there was plenty of beer and Yakima to keep it light hearted.  Later that night we all sat around the campfire and talking and I really got to know his cousins.  I had such an amazing time, and was told I got the “2 thumbs up” approval and the official welcome to the family. Gee, its not like boyfriend gets the say in this or anything ;)

I’ve just been getting settled into the new semester and re-adjusting to classes and working, hence the long absence.  I think things should get better this week, I finally have a handle on juggling my workload.  But here are some more photos from the trip- enjoy!  

Old rusted farm truck, looked like a postcard.

Playing with the player piano.

Only photo from the BBQ, and for good reason haha! The wine was flowing pretty heavy at this point :)