what a difference a year makes

One year ago today, I began my medical leave. One year ago, I was, for lack of a better term, a hot mess.

But here I am today. I'm still kind of a mess, I suppose, but it has nothing to do with my health! I'm back in school and am in drastically better health. I can't believe the transformation that has happened over the past 365 days! Thank you all for that.

Thank you for the UNMC faculty, deans and support staff who made it possible for me to take the time I needed. Thank you also for continually checking in on me this year to see how I'm doing.

Thank you to my doctors and their teams for dealing with my calls, emails, and my laundry list of questions. And thank you for reminding me what is best for me when I'm being stubborn.

Thank you to my parents for supporting me in every way. Thanks for letting me live at home. Thanks for cooking me food and doing my laundry on occasion. Thanks for putting up with me when I'm under anesthesia and not very nice :) (and the times when I'm not under anesthesia and am still not very nice!). Thanks Mama for the, sometimes harsh, texts reminding me to get my lazy bum out of bed when I'm tired!

Thank you to my incredibly wonderful roommate Megan who has had to listen to me whine about not feeling well ad nauseum. And for not making me feel guilty about leaving the apartment in shambles on occasion when I'm too tired to clean! I promise to clean the kitchen and mop the floors this weekend! 

Thank you to my M2 friends for keeping me in the loop and for periodically checking in with me. A special thank you to Sydney, Brent, Meredith, Megan, Evin, Sally and Nathan.

Thank you to my new classmates for accepting me! A VERY special thank you to Hugh, Cason and Emily for not hating me after I was a know-it-all on the first day of orientation PBL :)

Thank you to my SMDEP students for encouraging me to head back to school!

Thank you to Dr. Edwards for letting me temporarily infiltrate your practice and do some research in my time off. Thanks also for encouraging me to send abstracts into conferences (even though we both know it completely stresses me out!).  

Thank you to Mr. Justin for reminding me to smile and laugh through the bad days. Thanks for understanding when I need to be selfish and go to bed at 8:30 pm, like an old lady, even though it's ridiculously inconvenient for everyone around me. And thank you mostly for understanding that I need to study approximately one billion hours a week (give or take a few hours!). 

It's been a crazy ride. I haven't loved every minute of it, but I'm glad to be back. I have a test next week, so I'll leave y'all and go back to studying. Thanks to everyone who has had a part in my recovery!

Listening to community...innovative or centuries-old?

I have been going to conferences like it's my job lately. I will, I will, I will (I promise) write about them very soon. I went to a global mission and world hunger consult meeting in October on the border in Texas. This week I attended/presented a poster at a conference about the scientific study of sex. Simultaneously, I attended a conference about hunger and charity at my church (the end of the week was certainly busy...I'm ready for a nap!). Eventually I'll write about all of that, but first I wanted to just put my thoughts out there on a theme that I've noticed between all of those conferences and my classwork this semester.

For my Health Behavior class, I've been doing lots of reading on health behavior theories and frameworks for interventions for particular behaviors (ex: smoking cessation programs, nutrition classes, frameworks for increasing vaccination rates or condom use or whatever the behavior is). The more recent research in any of the theories we've explored is about how people will respond better to an intervention if they have a little "buy-in" into it. Something like...people are more likely to make more positive health behavior choices if they think they are capable of it and they think it's important/want to.

Okay, that makes complete intuitive sense. Absolutely. The trouble is, too often researchers, public health peeps and doctors (or whomever else is involved) spend their energies simply telling people/communities what they need instead of asking what the person/community thinks they need. Turns out, this doesn't produce as favorable results. That also makes complete intuitive sense to me...I mean, who really likes getting told what to do? Not me!

So then I thought about the service learning work I did in college. It was completely focused around finding out what the community you were going to help actually wanted or needed. It doesn't work to serve others by just showing up and doing something that doesn't help them. You can see lots of well-meaning work like this in the mission trip phenomenon. Often youth/young adult groups go to impoverished areas domestically and abroad to "go and help the poor." Okay, awesome. I'm with you on that. But then the youth group comes in and paints a wall that has been painted a million other times by other youth groups. Or they slap a house together that wasn't built well and didn't really need to be built where it now stands. Or something else like that. That does nothing to further the community and doesn't really fill a need.

The best way to serve others is to have an open, honest and authentic conversation around what their needs actually are and how to work together to get to the end goal. It shouldn't be about the group of people "with the stuff" helping the people "without the stuff"--one group with the power and the other, powerless.

This idea is not new within the service learning community.

And then I've been going to these conferences and studying the things I study and each of the respective places mentions this concept (in their own terms, common to the language they use), like it's the newest, most amazing concept in the whole world. Do I think it's an amazing concept? Yes. Definitely. But I don't really think it's all that novel. Whether it's called "accompaniment," "community engagement" or whatever, it's the same sort of thing. I think in some areas of work/study, the concept probably is pretty new.

Maybe, just maybe, it makes sense to stop working in silos and have a free-exchange of ideas between business, service learning, health, church work or whatever it is you do. I am willing to bet that this idea of" listening to the people that surround you" is not the only truly groundbreaking concept that we can learn from each other.

Just some food for thought, I guess...

Where has the time gone?

I am, in fact, still blogging. I know my recent history of not posting blogs sort of contradicts that fact, but at least in my head I'm still a blogger. I even have a list of blogposts to write. I just... I just... haven't written anything lately because I'm a lazy brains. And because I've been working lots lately (2-5 year olds dressed up on Halloween is absolutely adorable. For the first hour. And then after that they stop listening and make really poor decisions and everyone is in trouble).

BUT I will, at the very least, make this post. Hopefully this week I will also get around to posting about my trip to Eagle Pass, TX a few weeks ago!

For now... This incredibly done PSA about cyberbullying (and bullying in general). Look at this amazing performance! And then do your part to combat cyberbullying. So powerful.

4A Represent!

I'm so excited to announce that I am headed to Eagle Pass, TX in a few weeks to represent the Nebraska Synod ELCA (4A) and the ELCA World Hunger Committee at the Region 4 Consult meeting about Global Mission and World Hunger!

For those of you who don't know, I'm pretty passionate about hunger issues and have been on the ELCA World Hunger Committee here in Nebraska for 3 years now. Just yesterday morning we had a meeting and I met several of our new committee members and am so excited for the direction we are taking. Hunger is a terrible thing and although I'm not naïve enough to think that we will solve all the problems, even a little something is a start!

I'm excited to network and connect with other hunger advocates in the central US and also to worship with a congregation in Piedras Negras, a city in Coahuila, Mexico. I have no doubt that the trip will be quite the learning experience and also an adventure! Here goes nothing! :)

Omaha Restaurant Week

Flatiron Cafe: seared scallop with
diced cucumbers and roma tomatoes

My favorite week of the whole year is here (and very sadly ending). Omaha Restaurant Week! This year 56 restaurants participated...each place comes up with a 3 course menu that is $20, $30 or $40. And then you can go to several places and get delicious food and love your life even more. It's especially nice for the places that are generally $100-200 bills for two people, but that you want to try because they are the most delicious places in the whole wide world (I'm looking at you Grey Plume). Well anyway, I went a little crazy this year and have gone to 5 places in the past 10 days. FIVE places. I never eat out that frequently! Oh well, my tummy and my soul are so so happy about it! (Bonus... part of the proceeds go to fight hunger in the Omaha area!) Here are the results...

Flatiron Cafe: Tahitian vanilla bean creme brulee

Flatiron Cafe: seared salmon with basil and edamame risotto

Modern Love: watermelon beet salad

Modern Love: panko crusted fried green tomato

Modern Love: polenta romesco with brussel sprouts

Modern Love: farroto with apple sausages
and roasted root vegetables

Modern Love: blueberry cheesecake

Modern Love: peach raspberry pie
with vanilla bean ice cream

The Grey Plume: first bite--orange mouse with
shaved fennel and fennel gel and roasted walnut

The Grey Plume: potato soup--crème fraîche,
truffle oil and potato salpicon

The Grey Plume: potato soup--adding the base

The Grey Plume: steelhead trout with summer succotash and fried okra

The Grey Plume: earl grey pot de crème with chocolate and cookie crumbles

Louie's Wine Dive: sweet and spicy fried catfish
with grits and pickled vegetables
**not pictured: margarita flatbread**

Louie's Wine Dive: 4 pork gnocchi
**not pictured: steak poutine**

Louie's Wine Bar: apple cobbler

Louie's Wine Dive: flourless chocolate cake

Taita: seafood platter--tuna tartar, smoked bluefish, salmon rillettes,
tofu with salmon ju, mushrooms and pickled eggplant

Taita: brown butter scallop with edamame

Taita: crab and seafood mousse tortellin

Taita: chocolate paxé

Working Gal!

Who's got two thumbs and is gainfully employed?

This gal!

Yay me! I'm going to work at a local YMCA doing preschool. It's going to be pretty fabulous. I'll have 2s, 3s, 4s and some 5s that didn't make the birthday cut for schools. It's going to be awesome and filled with lots of laughter at the weird things that kids do.

Perhaps later today (when class doesn't start in 15 minutes), I'll write about my birthday extravaganza weekend. Perhaps. Hope all is well!

Emergency Preparedness

I figured since I'm in public health now, I should write about public health things. Okay...you caught me. I've been writing about public health things since the get-go. Why didn't one of you suggest I do public health sooner!?! I digress...

September is National Preparedness Month! This means making a plan, getting supplies and having conversations with your family. Theoretically you should have enough supplies to last you and your family for at least 72 hours. According to a news release earlier this week from Governor Heineman, these things should be in your emergency kit:

• battery-powered or crank radio
• weather alert radio
• extra batteries
• first aid kit
• sanitary wipes
• dust mask
• water for drinking and sanitation
• water purification tablets
• waterproof matches and/or butane lighter
• crank flashlight
• plastic sheeting
• non-perishable food for at least three days
• disinfectants and medications.
• medical information for entire family, including details about dosages of required medications and a list of known health issues
• warm clothes and sleeping bags for winter
• extra hydration and bug-repellant for summer/fall

In addition to the kit, an emergency plan should be drafted for the family so everyone can be on the same page if something happens to the house or the family gets separated. Here is one that you can just fill in the blanks!

Make sure your kits are easily accessible and movable, if necessary! You can find more information on the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency's website: http://www.nema.ne.gov/index.shtml. 

Stay safe friends! You never know when fire, tornadoes or floods will hit! 

Christmas Spectacular

Soooooo...exciting news! The Rockettes (as in the legs for days, kicklines for hours Rockettes) were in town tonight and put on a master class! So I got to be a Rockette for precisely one hour. Which is super lucky because you actually have to be 5'6"-5'10" to make it usually...

We danced. It was fabulous. We learned the kickline from the video below (obviously it looked just like that when I did it too! The kickline starts at about 3:10). I kicked higher or just as high as all of the girls in my group, which isn't bad for my old lady legs who haven't stretched since June! ( :/ ...oops!).

Oh and school is happening too. I really love it and this week I'm already writing two papers! Labor Day weekend was great fun as well. Surprised Uncle Pat with a birthday party and spent lots of time with family. All in all, a grand old time!

And now, I plan to soak my sore muscles in a hot bath!

And proof! I'm in the second row on the right; the Rockette teaching us is on the far left!

19th Grade

So actually I'm not sure how to qualify what "grade" I'm in. Do I count M1 year as one grade, even though I did it twice (effectively)? And because I'm not staying in medical school, I'm not even sure if that counts at all....?

Well anyway, today was the first day of my 19th year of schooling. HOLY BUCKETS! I must really love school or something! (I'll let you in on a little secret, I love school).

This semester I only have one class that actually meets in person. It's "Introduction to Maternal and Child Health". I had it this afternoon for just shy of 3 hours. I like it, but it's very different from medical school. It's much slower paced and I have to admit that I was a little bored. I'm very used to needing to process more information, more quickly in class, but I'm sure it will pick up pace once we don't have to do syllabus sorts of things.

My other two courses are online: Epidemiology and Health Behavior. I've already had to take a few quizzes, even before classes officially started! Yuck. We shall see how I like online classes...I'm sure they will be quite different from the two online classes I took at CCC after my freshman year at Hastings College (I just have this sneaking suspicion that graduate level online classes are harder than Composition 101).

It's also going to be a transition to not have every minute of my day scheduled with class or studying. The program I'm in is designed for working professionals, so most people are employed in some manner. I'm trying to figure out exactly what I will do, but I'm sure it will be something because I'm kind of already going stir crazy with the lack of things penciled in to my beautiful new planner. So if anyone is looking for an employee in the Omaha area, let me know! :)

It was a good day and now I must figure out when things are due for my online classes!

Yay books! 

CSA

green onions, tomato, radishes, rhubarb, asparagus,
popcorn, quark cheese and red, white and blue bread

This summer I signed up for a CSA--community supported agriculture--and I have absolutely fallen in love with it! The idea is that you buy "shares" of local farmer's crops and get a bag of vegetables/fruit in return every week. You get to eat locally and you also support local farmers. It's a win-win for everyone involved!

kale (so much kale!!!), tomatoes, broccoli, radishes, eggs, zucchini and strawberries

I loved it so much that I've signed up for a fall one too! Yesterday, I found out that the company I'm going through (the farmer's market that organizes all of the produce from the farmers and gets it distributed to all of the vegetable-loving peoples) is doing a winter CSA too! I'm actually a little bit bummed that I won't be able to do that one. But it's only because it features meat every week and that's pretty much pointless for me, but if you're in the Omaha area and you're interested, please let me know!

onions, beets, walnuts, potatoes, zucchini and a baguette

Not only do I get veggies each week, but I also get a fresh loaf of bread from a local bakery as well as a dozen farm fresh eggs/local cheese on alternating weeks. It's been really wonderful to expand my vegetable and cheese horizons and also work on cooking different things! The bags were designed for families of 4, so I even have a nice stash frozen for the winter! Sometimes they throw in other stuff like local honey, granola, popcorn from a local farm, a basil plant and lots of other stuff!

It's been a wonderful adventure and I look forward to the new types of squash I'm sure I'll get to try in the coming weeks with my fall veggie bags! I have been eating VERY well this summer!

the cutest little strawberries! they make my hand look like a giant hand! :)

bruschetta from the tomatoes, onions, basil and bread from my bags!

green beans, peaches, corn, pickling cucumbers, broccoli,
squash, nettle cheese, and Popeye bread

I pickled the cucs, squash and onions. Yum!

Squash, green bean and zucchini crepes from the bags.
Chives from my herb pot! :)

potatoes, zucchini, green peppers, green beans, basil,
peaches, corn, eggs, and Indian bread

onions, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, kale,
garlic pepper cheddar cheese, kale, and a baguette