Part One: Me

I'm an only child which means I'm expected to be self-centered and self-concerned. Therefore, where better to start all of my updates than a discussion of what's going on with me!

The dino was mine before, but thanks to Laura
for the jellyfish, bunny, giraffe, pumpkin,
Frankenstein and snowflake! I work the snowflake
in clinic yesterday and everyone LOVED it! 

• Christmas break: Simply put, it was WONDERFUL! I'm very much so missing it! I celebrated Christmas for 8 days in a row with friends and family (I don't know how the lady survived 12 days of Christmas with her true love, cause I was utterly exhausted after 8 days!). This year was the Christmas of scarves. If you have any wonderful ideas about how to organize an overly large scarf collection, I'd welcome your suggestions! 
• ID Badge Holders: Truth be told, these were Christmas gifts. But they're so adorable that they get their own bullet point! Now I will be seasonally appropriate and stylish whenever I have to wear my ID Badge to clinic! Hugh, I know your snowman was very adorable, but you have to admit that my whole collection is quite charming!  
• New Year's Resolution: (Let me preface this to my Grandma and Captain Murphy...this is not a prior admission of guilt!) My resolution this year is to not speed when I'm driving. Let's just say that the drive from Hastings to Omaha is actually longer than I realized... It's been super hard, but I'm doing alright! I've also noticed that my (apparently) ridiculous road rage has decreased. 
• January challenge: This month's challenge is to wake up early. Soooo.... I haven't been doing super well with that. The issue is that I haven't been falling asleep until well after midnight so 6 am (or earlier) is ridiculous. BUT I'm still trying!  
• Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine: I'm currently reading it! It's a tough read, if I'm being honest. It's a sociologic study of how religion and medicine are addressed in major academic medical institutions. She interviews docs, nurses and everyone in between. I'm not very far into it, so more on this later!
• EMET: Last year I talked about how I was thinking about applying for an enhanced medical education track, but I got too sick to do it. The beauty of repeating 1st year is that I have the chance to do all of the things I missed out on! So I applied to the Humanities and Arts track. We shall see if I'm accepted!
• School: We are back in session (have been for a week and a half already!). Cardiac physiology. Test a week from tomorrow (eeek!). 
• Jamaica:  My loyal readers will know that I'm heading to Jamaica over spring break for a medical mission trip. There will be 30 of us heading to Falmouth to provide services for over 400 people. We're bringing all of our own equipment and medication. In order to defer these costs, we're doing several fundraisers and here is one (shameless plug!) that you too can get involved with! Anything helps, even if it's just a small donation! 
• Shout-out: Just a special "hello" to my classmate Danny! Thanks for being such a loyal reader :) (And now, you are just as good as Hugh because you both got a shout-out today!)

That's all until tomorrow!