So PA School....

I have not written in my blog for 2 years. Yep. I figure a little occasional visit is a good idea just for me to touch base.

Since I last wrote I was accepted to UTMB's PA school! I've pretty much completed the first year and will be starting clinicals in about 2 weeks! YIKES! So I don't feel like I need to excuse myself for a lack of writing. PA school is easily the most challenging task I've ever taken on. It is exhausting on mental, emotional, and physical levels. It takes a toll on your personal relationships and your waistline. It is tough, tough, tough. But I would sign up again any day. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, and one of the most satisfying and enjoyable types of work you can do.

Part of my attempt to protect my mental health has been starting knitting projects for myself. No baby gift for anyone while I'm in school. Just asking for higher quality fibers at holidays and making some wearable treats for me!! Nothing is finished yet, but I am loving the thought of laboring over myself!

I'll be starting my clinical year in a surgery rotation. Long hours, lots of standing and walking, and little eating. Should help get rid of my didactic year insulation, but I'm really looking forward to getting a routine going that includes the gym.

This is not a well organized entry with an objective or a game plan. Just sharing a few things while I binge watch some GoT with my hubster :)

I am an incredible blogger....NOT!

So let's face it. I lack the drive for written expression you really need to keep a steady blog.

On the other hand, I now have a steady job.

That sort of rhymes and it's definitely a win! Getting a big-girl paycheck is a huge stress reliever for me and my hubster. Some sad news, my knitting has come to a complete halt. It's one of those embarrassing 99% finished with the project and it's just sitting there.  It's a lot like the book I started reading. I like it enough to not re-shelf it, but it seems to have become and object I carry around.

Good news is that the good news list is much longer!
- Phlebotomy certification test is next tuesday
- Telemetry class is going well and will lead to a second certification
- Phlebotomy teacher wants to hire me to assist with teaching lab
- New job is challenging but super flexible
- New diet and exercise routine started today
- New oil pulling routine started today
- Made my $1,000,000,000 march madness bracket is submitted
- chipping away at the house purchase project

Working hard to defeat the challenges on this list and making sure to put it on the internet so that I may  be held accountable.  We shall see.

Just gotta put the daily tasks in a to-do list and keep the big picture stuff on my mind in the background at all times.  The hustle is real.

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I'm celebrating in the most Irish way possible, suffering through a nasty sunburn. Tradition is important to me.

So I, um, sorta forgot... ahem... that this puppy existed

Hi....

I kinda feel like I ran into an ex at the grocery store.  After uncovering my long-lost hand written jabber log (the cooler name I gave my girly diary), I realized that I might have neglected another expression opportunity.

So I'm sorry Salty Strawberry readers (if there are any).  I really got swept up into my own butt-hole for a few months there!

When I look at the calendar I realize that I stopped blogging about the same time I started my phlebotomy class.  What a wasted teaching moment! Phlebotomy has been surprisingly awesome and I regret not taking the time to share my thoughts and feelings about learning to do and invasive procedure on humans.  But lucky, lucky us!  I still have the clinical phase of the class to complete before it's all said and done.  Not to mention the job hunt that will follow after and all sorts of salty strawberry adventures that will soon be had!!

I really hit some speed bumps on my knitting.  I think that glorious afghan took some knitting life force out of me.  Last year I made copious amounts of hand made Christmas gifts.  Honestly, it was extremely impressive.  So far I have 3/4 of a niece's sweater completed.  Side note - this niece is one of 4 children, so I can't give just that one sweater, and this year I can't afford to buy them gifts instead.  Luckily my step daughter is very close in age and size, so maybe I can send it that way instead.

Well we'll see how all those cookies crumble, and I'll try harder to make sure some of it ends up on the interwebs for your entertainment!  Things have been very emotional with work and anxiously awaiting for school responses.  So I'm glad to jump back into this.  I was feeling a real lack of balance, and I think seeing my thoughts spelled out might do the trick!!  

The slow road to big-girldom

Disclaimer: I fully acknowledge how incredibly spoiled I am to just now be having these experiences at the age of 25, and I thank my parents for the hard work it took to grant me such advantages in life.

The transition from belonging to my parents to belonging to my husband and myself is nearing completion!  As of this week I will have big-girl responsibilities.  My dad gave me the title to my car as a wedding gift (AWESOME! THANKS DADDY!) and now I will finally experience the tedium of vehicle ownership.  The good news is, adding me and my little Rav4 brings down the premium on my hubby's risque Mach 1.  Ladies, be a good driver.  Stand up to stereotypes and be a financial asset to your man!  Woo!  Adulthood! 

We also got me switched on the health insurance.  Here's where I get weird...  I can not wait to pick out our doctor!  We are planning to stay in Houston for a while and I am a creepy kid that thinks ahead to the possibility of needing family medicine.  No imaginary baby of mine will be tended to by some FDA funded drug puppet doctor!  I am about to be a very crazy person.  The plan is to date different doctors until I find a good fit with a convenient office location.  Any jerk bookworm can be a physician, I need a jerk bookworm who has the patience to deal with an over educated know-it-all patient with hippyish medical ideals.  I'm dreaming of a D.O. practice which employs many P.A.s.  *sigh*  Wouldn't that be a beautiful place full of preventative and preferably natural treatments?  I may dabble in finding a good chiropractor as well.  Now that I'm away from my hometown network of natural medicine practitioners, it's hard to know who to call when you need to know which herbal tea suits your joint pain.  

In other, less crazy kid news...  I submitted my P.A. school applications!!!!  I'm so glad to have them out of my hands!  My fingers and toes are crossed that I will land an acceptance this year.  I also successfully completed a 48 hour detox diet over the labor day weekend.  It didn't always taste great, but I did drop 4 pounds.  The cleanse might have also contributed to the awesome run I had on Tuesday.  I felt like a well oiled machine!  

AND I finished the afghan I've been knitting since January!  No yarn left over either!  I believe this was a first for me.  I am incredibly proud of how it turned out and I love using it! 

Wavy Afghan pattern free hand out from Michael's

all the best giant throw blankets have fringe!

It covers a queen sized bed! (we have sheets, I promise they were in the wash)

So there you have it.  I am a knitting goddess with health insurance, vehicle ownership, and P.A. applications on their way to judgement day.  Things are looking good.  

I love going to the movies!

We had a great weekend!  We went to to see Kick Ass 2 on Saturday, and we LOVED it!  It just so happens that we love Kick Ass, so the sequel wasn't much of a stretch for us.  On Sunday, we spent a rainy day at the beach.  I love a rainy beach day.  You can see when the next batch of rain is coming and there aren't as many people there to grapple with for a good spot.

For whatever reason this week, classic horror movies have been my thing.  I watched a string of classics while writing my PA school application essays.  It was a weird combination and it was magical.  I'm telling you, I love movies!

I'm also hell bent on discovering the hidden gems of Netflix.  For example, we watched "The Road" this weekend.  It was a very good and very different post-apocalypse.  I would be very interested to learn of any more lesser-known treasures hidden in the depths of Netflix's files.  We've been lucky to finally have some rainy evenings to really enjoy all of this movie watching!  I hope there's more to come soon!!

Master of Science

It finally happened!  We went back to Ohio this past weekend for my master's graduation ceremony!  It feels so great to finally have that chapter in my closing.  Even though the flight was expensive, I'm really glad that my husband could come share my first college graduation ceremony with me (I didn't walk for my bachelor's because I was a bride's maid that day).  I also felt special with my fancy master's hood.  

I've also finally fixed my poor neglected car!  She has her door trim reattached, and her exhaust is welded back on to the muffler!  No longer does she sound or look like a hill billy.  And the paperwork continues.  Now that she's in order, I can get the title put in my new name etc.  We're also playing the health insurance game.   

Some awesome news:  I bought some water colors and created some beastly paintings!!  I've had some ideas for paintings in my mind for almost a year now, and I've finally followed through on them.   Painting is one of those things for me that can go one way or another.  I either fall miserably short of my expectations, or exceed them by leaps and bounds.  Fortunately this time, I exceeded them.  I love getting on a creative roll.  It makes me feel super capable.  Hopefully I can keep it going and apply it to some useful projects we need completed around the apartment.  

Well I'm in the middle of cooking dinner!  Until Sunday!

I declare vendetta against my mail lady.

    Finally.  I finally got my new drivers license in the mail on friday.  It took a full month to get it in the mail.  The state of texas does this goofy thing, where they print you out a sheet of paper with your picture and license info on it.  The real thing couldn't have come at a better time.  I wasn't so sure that the airports outside of texas would be cool with my little print out.

     So the delay isn't really my mail lady's fault as far as I can tell.  On the other hand, she did put it in the wrong mailbox.  My foreign neighbors took the liberty of opening my mail before bringing it to me.  Better than pitching it without looking I guess.

    Why do I feud with my mail carrier?  Breach of package delivery protocol.  Here's how a typical package delivery goes at our apartment:

USPS tracking website says the package is delivered.
Interesting, I see no such package.
Leasing office?  No, they haven't seen it either...
Post office?  What package?  How do you spell your name again?

   Typically I do this circle of checkpoints for 1-4 days before my desired parcel is in my possession.  Ultimately the post office tells me to call them early in the morning and ask for my postal carrier before she leaves for deliveries.  Then she and I struggle to communicate given her Engrish, and I continue to circle my checkpoints as she recommends.  

Good news?  I made cheese! I made cream cheese and used some of the whey to make my own lacto-fermented ketchup!  The cream cheese and the ketchup are both delicious and I am really encouraged to continue with the transformation of my fridge!!  If you take any ideas from this blog, it should be to make your own ketchup.  So good!!

Summary: My mail lady irked me.  I went on a rage jog and came home and made ketchup and cleaned my bunny's cage.  I'm considering hosting a dinner simply to show off my ketchup.