It's About Time!

March 17, 2011 I found out that I matched at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria, IL. My friends and I had planned on going to Vegas after Match Day to celebrate and we had a blast!

In April, my mom and I went to Maui. We were joined by my mom's friend, Ellen, and her family. It was a lot of fun :o)


June was a busy busy month for me. I had a medical school graduation party, then my actual graduation ceremony in NY/NJ, which I was lucky enough to be able to share with my mom, dad, brother, grandma, great aunt and uncle, cousin, niece and pastor. It meant so much to me that they were all able to be there. After graduation, we went to Boston to visit and they threw another little party since there were three of us graduating at that time.






Little doctor in the making...

I left a little present for the "Great Uncle Andy" before we flew home. He said they didn't fit, but I think they look pretty good on him, don't you?


Afterwards, my mom and I drove cross country to Illinois. We were nervous about the trip since neither of us are very good at driving long distances, but we made it and we didn't kill each other either! In fact, we only argued twice I think. Overall a very successful trip if I do say so myself. We were even able to unload the truck all by ourselves except for two pieces of furniture. We drove "Bessie," the rental truck, around for a few days and then drove near a car dealership, parked it across the street and went searching for a new car. I had researched quite a bit, so I knew exactly what I wanted. When we got there, they only had a few cars on the lot since the tsunami in Japan had obviously slowed production, but luckily they had exactly what I wanted...color and all :o)




July 1st I started an Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria. I've completed 4 months of Pediatrics and am now on the Internal Medicine side. There is definitely a different feel when you compare the two sides, so we'll see which one I like better. So far, the medicine side is more relaxed...BUSY but more relaxed. The rotations I've completed so far are: 2 months of inpatient peds floors, 1 month of ER and 1 month of peds endocrinology. I'm currently on night float for the medicine floors and I'm really enjoying it. I have a wonderful team and we laugh A LOT! I'll be with 2 of them next month when I'm working in the medical ICU, so that makes me feel a little better. When I look at the senior residents I can't imagine being in their shoes. I don't know how I'll ever be ready to lead a team or really feel comfortable taking care of sick patients. I guess that's where trust in God is important. I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be, so now I just have to trust that He will take me to where I need to go.





This will be the first year that I won't have any of my family with me for Thanksgiving or be at home on my birthday. I'm trying not to think about it too much, but it definitely makes me a little sad when I do. At least I get to go home for Christmas, which is my favorite holiday, and my niece will be with us again :o) Hope you're all doing well and that your holidays are full of love, laughter and cheer!

Finally a MD!

Once again I'm starting out my blog apologizing for how long it has taken me to update it. Since my last post I've graduated from medical school with highest honors, enjoyed the holidays with my family and friends and gotten a new puppy.

I meant to take a picture of my diploma so everyone could see it, but I haven't gotten a chance yet so please remind me in the future. It's definitely the most expensive piece of paper I've ever owned! I'll be walking for graduation on June 10, 2011. I'm very excited to share that day with friends and family. It's been something we've all been looking forward to for a long time, and I truly appreciate all of the love and support each of you have given me. I find out where I'll be going for residency later this month so stay tuned!

The holidays were a whirlwind with all of the family coming in and out of town and me flying all over the country for interviews in between. The best part was the fact that my niece, Camila, was able to spend the entire two weeks of her Christmas break with us. What a blessing. She had so much fun and did extremely well considering the length of her stay. The house is definitely more quiet when she's not around. We're hoping that she'll be coming back for Spring Break, so please be praying it works out. We really miss her.




As for our new puppy, she's a chocolate lab, her name is Sweet Bella and she's pretty cute. When we got her she was about 5 weeks old although they told us 10 (Yeah right!) and she weighed between 3-4 lbs. When we took her to the vet they couldn't believe how tiny she was. She's 15 weeks now and weighs approximately 25 lbs. She's definitely a puppy...she drives us crazy with all of the chewing! Therefore, we took her to meet a trainer this evening and will be enrolling her in puppy classes very soon. She's a lot of work, but we're really enjoying having the new addition to our family.



Hope you're all doing well and thanks for checking in!