whats new in Maine?

Nothing... no just kidding :) I have not been very good about updating this blog :( I will not pretend that I will do better though I will try. Lets see, since the last time I wrote what has happened...

Jason graduated with his Doctorate in Physical Therapy and is now working at a hospital doing outpatient rehab specializing in Neurologic rehab.

We moved to a town called Pittsfield. We did this because Jason's job was about an hour south of where we were living so we picked a place pretty much in the middle our two jobs and are renting half of a cute duplex here. We have three bedrooms, a full basement and hardwood floors throughout.

I am still working in family practice and still enjoy it.

We are looking forward to the holiday season- well whats left of it. We spent Thanksgiving with Jason's Dad's family. We had a lot of good food and company.

We are super excited to be going to my sister's house in Montana for Christmas. She just had a new baby (well two months ago now) and this baby is the first girl for my sister. She joins her three older brothers and I can't wait to go see them all!

Before we leave for Montana we will be going to the wedding of one of my best friends:) I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle and marry a wonderful man!

I will try to include pictures in the future though I can honestly say my camera has been tucked away for months! In fact I need to go make sure it still works before our trip to Montana!

Getting Close!

So Quilting class has been going very well- of all the things I have learned... the most important thing so far is that quilting takes up a LOT of room!!! I pretty much take over the living room every time I start! I need a place with a room I can dedicate ALL to crafts! Maybe someday... Anyway here are some more blocks!

















Finally all the blocks are done and its time to figure out the layout!!!





And finally.... the top is DONE!!!!


Still have to put the sides on and the backing...

New projects

So I have been MIA from the blog world for a couple of months as I have had NOTHING to write about! I LOVE LOVE LOVE not being a student anymore but it turns out- life with no homework in northern Maine is kind of boring! So I needed a new hobby- I wanted to learn how to quilt- I went to the craft store to "look into it" and realized that not only do I not have a sewing machine but I don't know how to read a pattern. I didn't want to spend all the money on a machine just to not know what to do with it. A friend of mine informed me of a quilting shop in my area that offers beginners classes! I was soooo excited- I signed up! Bought my book, supplies, and borrowed a sewing machine from wonderful friend AMY! It is a six week class in which we learn all kinds of helpful hints and how to's. Last week was the first class and we learned all about fabrics the art of quilting. At the end we had to pick out our fabric for which we would make our first ever quilt! Talk about stressful- It took me an hour and a half but finally I picked out my fabric.



As a new quilter, the teacher told me to go home and get some scraps to work on my "1/4 in seam" Turns out the quarter inch seam is VERY important in quilting. I did indeed practice all week (a little boring I might add) but I was excited when I got to class to "show off my seam". That didn't really pan out- for some reason the math didn't add up. When I tried to sew three strip together with good seam the finished project was too small. After some adjustments though- we figured in out and now I am rocking away! In the second class we learned how to cut and press and we were on our way to making our first "block".







I have homework this week to cut and sew the second block and then cut for the next three blocks after that! It should be a lot of fun. I will post pictures as I go!

Holidays...

This is Jason and I at Thanksgiving in Portland, we spent it there at his sister's apartment with his mom and Step dad. His sister and brother in law made delicious food and we went for a nice walk on the Eastern Promenade after gorging on Turkey.

Jason and I had pretty low key holidays this year. I was fortunate to get some time off before Christmas this year- I only had to work Monday that week- so I took advantage of the time off to bake a bunch of Christmas cookies. I gave them to his family as gifts. When I say a bunch of cookies- I mean a BUNCH! I made six different kinds including peanut butter cup cookies, easy lemon cake cookies, mint brownies, cherry coconut bars, Gooey bars, and chewy molasses cookies. It was too hard to pick a favorite but I think the lemon cookies came in first! For Christmas eve we spent the evening with Jason's moms side of the family. It was nice to get a chance to visit with them as I have only met them a few times. Jason and I got to have our own Christmas morning- I made Quiche (my favorite holiday breakfast), we opened presents together and then went over to his Aunts house to see his Dad's side of the family! Again we had a great visit. There was a lot of snow, which is different for me as we don't really get the whole "white Christmas" package in Seattle.

I loved all of my gifts- to mention a few, Jason got me a beautiful necklace and a portable hard drive! My sister gave us some really nice bookends (an -S and a -J) and the first season of Chuck (the greatest show ever)! My mom sent some really nice wine glasses and my Starbucks card (thanks- your the greatest!!!)

New Years eve was pretty low key as there was the threat of a major winter storm. We had invited friends over with the intentions of going downtown before midnight. We had good food a drinks, played games and decided to stay in and continue to play games while watching the ball drop! It was a very fun night and even better- no one had to wait an hour for a cab! The storm had just begun at mid night and it snowed for about three days straight! We got like 2 feet!!! No I am back to work (boo) and Jason is enjoying his last bit of freedom! He is reffing Basketball a lot right now which he really enjoys and I have gone to watch a few games also. It is fun to watch though I still don't understand all the rules- not being a Basketball player myself. He heads off to his last clinical soon and then before we know it- graduation will be here!

His graduation is just one of many great things we hope to come in 2010... I hope everyone else had wonderful holidays and good luck to everyone in the new decade!

Winter in Maine

People keep warning me about the winters in Maine when they learn that I am not from here and I reply "well this is actually my third winter in Maine". Today I was walking in the freshly fallen 5 inches we had last night thinking about... I actually don't think I have really spent a full typical winter in Maine. My first year here, I never had to go anywhere if I didn't have to because I lived on campus so if it snowed real bad, I would just stay on campus till the roads were "safe". Then Last year I was in Seattle for November and December! This will be my first true Maine winter. I will be here the whole time, traveling to work everyday etc. I am a little nervous about it. I mean, I had never shoveled snow until today!

I also realized that this will be my first Christmas in Maine! My first year here I went to Europe for Christmas and last year I was in Seattle! This year will be spent here in Maine with Jason's family. We got a tree up already and I am looking forward to making Christmas cookies for everyone! Yay for the Holidays!

Clarification on Visitors

It should be pointed out that our actually first visitor was my good friend Holly!!! She- like a troop had to sleep on the floor as we did not have the spare room up and ready... so the other visitors were the first to use the guest room! You Rock Friend!!!

Visitors

We had our first house guests this weekend. My good friend for Grad School and her friend came to visit. They drove all the way from West Pennsylvania to get to us. It took them 12.5 hours!!! They had a lot of people to visit on their trip to New England and we were fortunate to be stop number one!!! The girls and I went out to Bar Harbor on Saturday while Jason was at a conference. We lucked out and the weather was really pretty nice. That night we made pizza and Margaritas and watched movies- Jason is such a troop to hang with us three pretty ladies! We got up Sunday morning and all went to breakfest. Sadly the girls had to be on their way to the next stop- I tried to keep them hostage but alas they left :( I spent the rest of Sunday just getting things done. I got new tires on my car so I should be already for the snow... I made a really cute fleece tie blanket that is doing a great job of keeping me warm while I write this! Jason is researching Christmas trees next to me. We are probably going to get a fake tree to use for the next couple of years- real trees are very messy and with the base board heating them make me nervous!!!

Work is going really well. I have been very busy with the flu season causing all kinds of panic! So far I have manage to aviod getting it myself but I fear it is only a matter of time! I have pretty much washed all my skin off my hands as I am washing them 2 and 3 times per patient these days in an effort to avoid getting sick. I start taking "call" on Tuesday- which should not be too bad I hope. I will let you know!

We got two baby girl hamsters! Their names are Coco and Peanut, they love to run on theirs wheels and climb the cage. I had to get a second wheel so they each could have their own as they had been trying to run in opposite directions and this was leading to some disagreements in the form of squeeking at each other.

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope that everyone gets to eat so really delicious turkey! We will be spending the holiday at Jason's sister's house. It should be great!

We ate our way across Vermont

So Jason and I took a long 4 day weekend to go to Burlington Vermont! We have heard a lot of really great things about the city and were very excited to experience it all for ourselves. We left on Friday afternoon with a big list of things to do and places to go. It took about 6 hours to get there and the drive was beautiful the whole way. It took us through the White Mountain region of New Hampshire and into the rolling green hills of Vermont. We arrived just in time for dinner, after which it was late and we were tired from the long drive over so we just went back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep so that we would be refreshed for Saturdays festivities. So to start our day Saturday we traveled to a town outside of Burlington to hit up the Green Mountain Coffee Roaster's Factory. We didnt get to see any actually Roasting but we did learn all about the process and got to have some pretty delicious coffee! We found out that Green Mountains actually just bought out Tullys which is interesting. After that we headed a few miles down the road to the wonderful Ben and Jerry's factory!!! We took the tour which ended with a free taste of the Cookies and Cream ice cream which was very good. We bought more ice cream outside and got to try some pretty interesting flavors. I had a Cake batter ice cream with chocolate fudge frosting swirl and a scoop of the Peanut Butter cookie dough ice cream! They were excellent! After Ben and Jerry's, we hit up the Magic Hat brewing company, got to sample all kinds of good beers (can't beat that!). We also went to a chocolate factory... man I feel like I need to work out just typing about all this food! Probably our favorite part was the Cabot Cheese factory! We got to sample like 11 different kinds of Cheddar! We bought all kinds of cheeses and butters and we can't wait to make some good meals with them!
Long story short- Vermont Rocks! I can't wait to go back!

Hiking Cadillac

I am a little late in posting this but I wanted to share the pictures. A few weeks ago, my friend Holly came up from Portland to visit Jason and I in Bangor. We all went hiking over the weekend in Acadia National Park! Here are the picture! Enjoy!

Hiking Cadillac

Setting up

So now that I have passed my boards and started work I thought it was high time I updated everyone! I started my family practice job, I like it a lot and am very thankful that everyone there is very willing to help me out as I have a thousand questions everyday! The first week I was pretty much lost and confused the majority of the time but I don't think the patients noticed!

Jason and I also got all moved into our new apartment! Finally out the little box we were sharing! It's two bedrooms, one and a half bath. Its like a townhouse in that it has its own entrance and we have a back deck with a storage unit. His Aunt and Uncle were very nice and have lent us a couch and a BBQ so we can enjoy the summer in style! Here are the pics!

New Place

Off by 12 months...

So I was in Starbucks the other day and there was a trivia question (if you get it right you get an extra/free shot)! So the questions was as follows: In what YEAR did the Frappuccino debut at Starbucks?" I thought about what time in life I could remember drinking them and I guessed 1998. The guy was like "no" I was a little bummed but it was pretty much a guess so I said "was I close?" and he said (very confidently) NO! I was like "ah man- when was it?" thinking it would be totally different... he says "1997" totally serious... I was like "1997! I was REALLY close- what do you mean 'no' I wasn't close!!!" He said "you were off by 12 months!" I was like "What do you mean 12 months- the question asked for a year! I was off by ONE YEAR! That's CLOSE!!!" He just stared at me... I COULD NOT believe it. Its not like it really mattered because either way I was wrong but it was the principle... The best part is that every time I think about him saying NO when I asked if I was close- I just start laughing...

I GOT MY MASTER'S!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY for me!!!! I finally finished and graduated this past weekend. I have my master's degree and as soon as I pass my boards I will be an official grown up Physician Assistant! Right now I am in Boston hanging out relaxing for a few days with friends and family... then back to Maine for another visitor then it's study time. That's right, I will be spending 5 days a week studying! It is kind of important that I pass them because I have a job, but in order to actually start work on the day they are already scheduling my patients, I have to pass! Good luck me!

What's that?

What's that you say? Yes you heard correctly, I have finished my clinical rotations!!! I no longer have to introduce myself as the PA student... No more exams (except boards), no more papers, no more school! I finished my last day on April 30th- I also turned 26 that day! Yikes! Who would have thought that I would be in school for almost 20 years... don't tell you children- it may frighten them! I will be graduating next Saturday with my Master's!!! It will be fun to see my mom and friends at the ceremony. I am trying to keep my mind off the fact that I still need to study for my board exams... I have to pass that before I am an official Physician Assistant. I have already signed up to take them in June and with the help of my good friend/classmate, I hope to pass them! It would be an awful shame if I didn't. We are going to be studying like 5 days a week for almost a month so I think we will be in good shape by the time we take the exam. I will keep you all posted on that.

What else is new... well I have a job lined up!!!! Provided I pass my boards, I will be starting work in a family practice clinic here in Bangor ME at the beginning of July! I am hoping to go home to Seattle for a week at the end of June, between taking the boards and starting work. It is exciting to think that my future is no longer just a black hole of debt!

The end is near...

I still have not posted pictures of my new car but to fill you all in, I got a 2008 Toyota Corolla! It is dark blue and I like it a LOT!!! I just started my last rotation on Monday- only like 5 weeks left! Crazy- I can't actually believe it. I signed up for my boards, I will take them in June so as soon as school is over its going to be Study time!!!! I am starting to panic about finding a job, I am in the process of setting up interviews and will keep you all posted on that. As for this rotation, I am in Bangor doing family medicine. I don't yet know when I will be traveling back out to Seattle for my next visit, probably not until after I have a job... As for today, I am actually at home sick. No good! Maybe I should be studying now... that doesn't sound like fun. Alright, wish me luck on the finding a job thing!

Good Bye little Green Car...

Well, sadly after many many years of good use, my Geo is going to the junk yard. Last week while driving back to my clinical site in Augusta Maine I got rear ended by a guy driving a Subaru. As many of you know, my trunk has been functioning as a traveling closet for almost two years now and when I got hit, a bunch of my stuff was spilled out all over the road! Fortunately, While my car is not ok, I am! And some very nice people came and helped me pick my stuff up out of the road. One of my classmates came and helped me empty the rest of my stuff out since the car was not drivable (the frown on driving without break lights). I have since been issued a rental car by the other guys insurance and I found out friday that it would cost 5,000 dollars to fix my car so it is now in the process of being totaled. I am currently waiting to get loan approval so that I can get a new car. Do you think they will give another loan to an unemployed graduate student sitting on a MOUNTAIN of debt already??? Lets hope so! I will keep you all posted!

Car

Paper work never ends...

It seems to me that paper work will never end. We just had a class on how to get licensed in Maine and how to renew your license every two years... I will just say- its a lot of paper work. I don't really like it. What if I just don't do it? Yeah OK I know, I have no choice but I don't have to be happy about it.

For those of you that weren't aware, I had my simulated patient exam yesterday... I will have you know that my "patient" did not die. The only problem was that I did not think the plastic man looked "sick" and silly me, I forgot to ask- does he look sick? I think that at this point I would be able to tell on a real patient whether or not he was sick. Anyway, I am sure I passed which is all that matters. Now I am just killing 3 hours while I wait my turn to take a fake 3 hour board exam... I am also not happy about that.

Done with this cold weather!!!

Once again my plans have changed... instead of going back out to WA to do another rotation I will be going back to the VA in Maine. I am actually very happy about this because in the end it is going to save me a lot of money!

Nothing new is really going on in live right now, I am still just working full time at the various rotations while NOT getting paid! I have spent the last 5+ weeks in rural New Hampshire- all I have to say about that is that Rural NH is VERY cold. I think the coldest day it was -30. That just doesn't seem possible! Thankfully my car started. I really wanted to see a moose while on that rotation but alas it has not happened yet. I think I will go up to Baxter State park next fall- everyone says that's the best time to see one. They are really huge creatures so I don't really understand why I am having such a difficult time seeing one. I guess its a good thing I am staying in Maine for awhile.

I really like everyone that I have met on this rotation. All the ladies at the clinic have been so nice to me and the family that I am living with has been awesome!

While I am looking forward to the end of this rotation, I am not looking forward to rotation seminar. Between every two rotations we have to go back to campus to do presentations and take exams and other busy work stuff. At this seminar, we have our "summative evaluations" which includes a graded simulator experience. Basically we have these 250,000$ fake patients that we have to evaluate, diagnose and treat. The problem is, we are video taped, and watched from behind a two way mirror were someone is speaking through a microphone on behalf of the "patient" It is really strange and you have to basically "act" like its a real person. Not only that but the person grading you has to hear out loud what you are think- so you have to remember to say things that normally your just file away in your head, like- oh the patient appears to have good color and good profusion (even though the "patient" is made out of plastic!) Not only do we have to do these simulated exams, but we also have to take the practice board exam AGAIN! Which means we have to take another 3+ hour exam for FUN! No good!

Lets see what else... I am so over the snow and cold- I mean I don't even remember the last time it was over 30 degrees for more than a few hours one day a week. I don't think people were meant to live in under 30 degree weather for prolonged periods of time. Good thing I am still carrying around some 1st year PA school "insulation". I would love a little rain. I do like that the sun comes out however.

Rotation Update...

So I am in the last week of my 5th rotation... I only have 3 left!!! I have already one: Women's Health in Bar Harbor Maine, Outpatient Internal Medicine at the VA in Togus/Augusta Maine (where I meet Jason), Emergency Medicine in Lewiston Maine, Surgical/Trauma Intensive Care Unit at Maine Medical Center in Portland Maine, and currently General Surgery at Providence Medical Center in Everette Washington! The ones that remain are as follow (as long as nothing changes that is): Rural Family Medicine in Gorham New Hampshire, Emergency Medicine (again) at Harborview Medical center in Seattle Washington, and last but not least, Family Medicine (not rural this time) in Bangor Maine! If all continues to go as planned I will graduate on May 9th 2009... Not soon enough I can tell you that for sure! I can't wait until I can actually get paid to work this hard! Right now I work full time (usually 8 to 12 hour days depending on the rotation) and... that's right I don't get paid for it! I mean I know that just the way it goes but still, its getting old! The worse part of not getting paid to work full time is the fact that technically I am PAYING to work this hard! I still have to pay tuition! That should be illegal! I guess in the end it will all be worth...

Home sweet home...

Well I am back in Washington. I have been very busy on this rotation- it is far from my moms house so I spend a lot of time driving which is no fun but it gives me lots of time to talk on the phone! It has been nice to see all the friends that I miss while I am in New England I just wish I didn't have to work so much! I will say that being out here makes me miss New England- I am not just talking about the people (don't get me wrong I miss them VERY much) but I have become accustomed to life out there- like the fact that there is no traffic in Maine! I do NOT love being back in a state with lots of traffic after spending so much time without it! I am happy to have all my favorite restaurants again however now I miss the ones that I had out there... like Dunken Donuts! I would have bet a lot of money that I would never like DD- and when it comes to coffee I still prefer Starbucks, but I do like the breakfast that you can get at DD. The other morning I really wanted a nice toasted bagel with cream cheese and I was like "where is a DD when you need one!"
Today I got to spend Thanksgiving with my family- my sister came into town with her husband and three kids! YAY! Anyway, it is Thanksgiving so I thought I should say that I am thankful to be home with my family for the first time in a while, I am thankful that everyone is healthy, I am thankful that I have such great friends- they can make me laugh at the drop of a hat, I am thankful that I have a wonderful boyfriend who treats me so well, but most of all, I am thankful that I am almost done with school!!!

Thanksgiving 2008

Jet setter

So I am trying to get all my ducks in a row so that I can head out to Seattle for 8 weeks... Little did I know that was not going to be easy or fun to prepare for... How do you plan what to pack? Knowing that you have to pay extra for added baggage and weight, do you just bite the bullet and pack two suit cases or one really heavy one? Has anyone done the math on which is cheaper? I bet it depends on the airline... I did find a place to store my car while I am gone, if I was already in Seattle I would not have this problem, we don't have to worry about moving the car when it snow because it doesn't snow in the city! I am looking forward to seeing my puppy for an extended period of time- I am hoping he will remember me! I am not easy to forget so I think he will. I am hoping to do a New Years party or something while I am out there, Jason will be in town for the week so we have to show him a proper time!