Trip to Yale and NYU!

I got up bright and early (yeah like at 4am) to train from NYC to New Haven, CT for my interview at Yale School of Medicine. It was a cool experience to be on such a historic campus--both the undergrad and med school. From the moment I walked in, I felt like they knew me. It was obvious that they had spent a lot of time reviewing our applications. Some of the highlights of the day were seeing a century old surgical training amphitheater and old campus. I really liked the feel of the program and would be so privileged if I got in there. Last night we headed down to Little Italy and had an awesome dinner at a place called Angelo's. Definitely recommend it. We finished off with some authentic Cannolis and a stroll past the new Freedom Tower which is lit up right now for Sept 11th.

Today I headed nearby to NYU for my last interview in NYC. I was impressed with the school and loved the clinical opportunities that are available there. They have an affiliated private hospital which is one of the top in the country, the historic Bellevue hospital, and a VA hospital. Pretty cool. Kimber and I headed after my interview to the Metropolitan Museum. We only had an hour, before it closed but I could have spent a week there. It's amazing how much amazing artifacts under one roof. As I headed home, I stopped at the 9/11 Memorial. What a humbling and special experience. Tomorrow I'm off to Baltimore/DC!

Here are some pics!

NYC Day 1

Hey everyone! I had an awesome time today interviewing at Cornell. The weather was a bit crazy but the school and my interviews were great (I hope :) ). I interviewed with a doctor who recently had a major stroke and who had quite a difficult time speaking. I was pretty humbled to know though that he delivered this year's White Coat Ceremony keynote only months after his stroke. Pretty amazing. My second interview was with a 4th year student. Overall, I feel like they both went very well and I definitely would love being here. Cornell, unlike the undergrad institution , is in Manhattan on the upper east side in a beautiful part of town. Beyond that they are affiliated with some incredible hospitals like New York Presbyterian, Hospital for Special Surgery (top orthopedics hospital in the country), Sloan-Kettering (one of the top cancer hospitals), and many more. After my interview I met up with Kimber and we went to see NYC. We celebrated National Cheeseburger Day by hitting up this locals-only style burger joint hidden behind this curtain in this super nice hotel. Random, I know. So good though. On our way home we got caught in a thunderstorm that had NYC under several severe weather and tornado warnings. The streets had literally turned into rivers. We made it though :) Onto Connecticut for the day tomorrow! Here are some pics!

Interview catch up

So I have been bad about blogging about my interview trips and this is my very brief attempt at catching up :) As Allie mentioned, I've had an awesome time visiting places I've never been before as I interview at the different schools. So far I have been to Baylor in Houston, U. of Rochester in New York, and the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. It has been quite an adventure so far and here are a few pictures to catch up :) I'll be better at posting a short blurb and pics as I go now instead of waiting so long. Thanks for reading!

            

Back to school update

Justin was a good sport this year and took back to school pictures with me! Didn't they turn out cute? Photo cred Bashley Holt. My favorite part is that we took them right outside the SWKT, which is where we spend most/all of our time on campus. (all for me!) I have my classes and nursing student lounge on the 4th floor and J works on the 10th floor. I ride the elevator a lot between those floors. :) I take it for granted that we have work/class so close. If we get a ten minute break during class, I jump on the elevator to say hi real quick! 

We started school a few weeks ago and I was surprised by how happy I was to back! After being at the College of Nursing for 5 of the last 6 years, I have so many friends and professors I love to run into. Our nurse practitioner class is also super small (only 13 people) so it was fun to catch up with everyone after the summer. I keep saying I'm excited to move in a year and have a new adventure, but I know I will miss BYU and all my pals. 

Justin's fall has been busy so far with medical school interviews. I snapped this cute photo as I dropped him off at the Provo airport for his first interview. He has really made the most of his trips seeing a lot of new places like Texas, Minnesota, and upstate New York. He even got to go to Palmyra, NY, where Joseph Smith restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has loved his trips and all the schools he has interviewed at so far. We don't start hearing about acceptances for at least another month so we're crossing our fingers.

I have been busy with my "thesis" paper preparing abstracts for some conferences coming up. I am researching the effect vitamin D has on infants and children with respiratory infections. I'm not really doing original research (thank goodness!) but doing a review of about 20 articles on the subject. It has been interesting especially after taking care of so many little patients with RSV and pneumonia. I'll be really relieved when my manuscript is submitted to a journal though. :) My mentor just told me we're going to submit an abstract to a conference at Disneyland so that is some motivation! 

We feel super blessed right now. It's so fun figuring out where we'll call "home" for the next four years. In honor of our Provo years, here's our back to school photo from our 1st year together at BYU back in 2007 and our last! 

Tender times.

Home again

In July we got to go back to California but this time flying! We came home for the wedding of our bffs since high school, Jena and Miles. We were so excited for them and couldn't miss it. 

Mom was kind enough to pick us up late at night from the airport on her birthday! Because of a little confusion about terminals, Justin and I stood at the curb with our posters and birthday hats for about 10 minutes and got some looks. :) Then Mom and Dad showed up and we celebrated a little!

For Mom's birthday this year, I made a little grandma kit complete with ibuprofen and Diet Pepsi. The only thing I forgot was earplugs :) There were also some actually helpful things for having grandbabies around.

We traveled to the Bay Area and visited some dream med schools. We have no idea if J has a chance at the likes of UCSF or Stanford but we had fun checking them out. We even drove by the housing where Mom and Dad lived near UCSF when they were there years ago! We would love to have a chance to be back somewhere in northern California but we'll see...

And drove back to GB in time to make it out to Folsom Lake. It was a quick night-- we just ate our Beach Hut on the lake and started wakeboarding.


Lindsey joined us on the tube and Dad made sure it was a wild ride. I was seriously sore for a few days from holding on for so long. 

We really packed it in this trip-- the next morning we met up with Justin's dad, Dan, and Makayla for breakfast! It was so fun to see them even if it was quick.

Then the wedding festivities began! Friday night Justin had the rehearsal and then I met up with them for the rehearsal dinner. It was so cute to hear the toasts-- we were all so excited. Everyone loves Jena and Miles.

Some of my favorite girls

 

Justin with all of his football boys

We love both Jena and Miles so much! I was on cheer with Jena in high school and Justin played football with Miles since 6th grade. It was so fun to be there to celebrate with them. Miles is now starting on the Oakland Raiders! We're actually going to watch him play tonight on Monday Night Football. Cool, huh? We are so excited for him and Jena.

And to top it all off I got to see my favorite person and bff Anise!! It was only for a second but I was so happy. I love this girl. 

Going back to California reminds me how much I love it. We really grew up in such a beautiful place and so many of the people we love still live there. Maybe someday we'll make it back!