Secret Service Guys Everywhere....

I had a job interview today and on the way we saw a lot of secret service guys. My first thought was that Pres. Obama must be in town---turns out he is! We're not positive that it was for him, but it's a good guess. After my interview there were even more! Then, while Scott and I were waiting at the bus stop there were a lot of black cars driving by with secret service guys sticking their heads out checking things out with sirens going. It was quite a disturbance on the street. We never did get a glimpse of anyone famous, but it was an experience seeing so much security

This Made My Day...

I got a package from my older sister Amber!

Thanks Am!
Pictures colored by my niece Taesya and nephew Canon, and one from Am
And pictures of the Kids!
Getting mail is so fun!

Operation

I shadowed my first doctor last week here at Columbia, and it was one of the highlights of my education so far! He is an orthopaedic surgeon, specializing in the hip and knee. To give you a brief run-through of my experience, I stumbled through the hospital trying to find the right elevators and offices, had to ask directions to find the operating rooms, wandered some more, and finally had to ask random nice lady in the OR recovery room where the doctor was that I was supposed to meet. She told me that he must have already gone into surgery early (but in reality, he was just running behind a lot, and started his previous case very very late).

"Just go find him in room 10," she said.

So I'm thinking to myself, "What? Are you crazy? You expect me to just walk right in there??" However, the only thing that comes out is, "Ok." . . . . . . "WAIT, I'm sorry, I'm new to this whole thing..."

So she helped me find where I needed to go, and then in I go to room 10. And while I was feeling completely out of place throughout this entire experience, no one ever questioned my legitimacy as I wandered through the inner corridors of the operating rooms with my trusty name badge.

Sparing all the surgical details, I got to watch a total hip replacement, and a partial knee replacement. I came away with an entirely new appreciation for surgeons and what they do. There are a lot of specialties in medicine that I think are somewhat interesting, but I never really know if it would be my "thing." But after that experience, I told Ashley that "I could totally see myself doing that for a living."

- Scott

This Pie's a Winner!

Our ward had a chili cookoff this past Saturday, and while I wouldn't say that I know how to cook a mean chili, I do have some connections to people who make good pies. Ashley and I were part of the committee in charge of the entire activity, and there was a pretty good showing of people - over 100, at least. There were 25 different chilis that people entered into the competition, and they were good! I personally had to try about half of them, all dished up in miniature dixie cups. My two favorites were a shredded chicken white spicy chili, and a spicy bleu cheese chili.

So, back to the pie...I made a banana cream, and it took third place! I know, I know, it's not first, but at least I got something! I made sure to scoop up half of a slice for myself near the beginning of the night, in case it didn't last, and I think it was a good thing.


This was my prize, a dish towel!

- Scott

Cornbread!

Our ward is having a chili cookoff tonight and to prepare I had to make 12 dozen corn muffins! I made them yesterday, it took me about 3 1/2 hours to get them all made. I cheated and used mixes, it would have taken a lot longer if I made them from scratch! It took 17 mixes...17 eggs....5 2/3 cups of milk. On top of that I made 2 pumpkin pies and Scott made a banana cream pie. Needless to say, I am a little tired of baking...

I took this:

and turned it into this:

Wet Paint Confession...

Whenever I see a wet paint sign I can't help but wonder if it is really wet... This leads to me touching it to test out for myself (which of course is the opposite purpose of the signs). I have seen a few of these lately. One was a post at the subway stop, the other a wall in our apt. building. I have given into the temptation and have discovered that neither place was wet...which just encourages this curiosity of mine. Scott just laughs at me...

This Weekend

This weekend was really fun and I wanted to give a bit of a recap:

On Friday we decided to go to The Met (The Metroplitan Museum). I really like art so I was really excited. It was a rainy gloomy day so a museum sounded like a great idea! Inside the museum was a little overwhelming because it is so big. We decided on a few things that we wanted to see because there is so much to see! We'll have to go back a million times to see everything. I took some pictures of some of my favorites.

I love Van Gogh so I was so excited to be able to see some of his paintings! Here are a few that I loved:

Irises, of course!

Some Jackson Pollock---I think his work is much cooler in person! I wasn't too impressed until I saw it in person.

We also saw some European paintings, Egyptian Art, other Modern Art, Arms and Armor. Scott wanted to see all the different types of armor and weapons and that was really cool to see. I was surprised, but it was cool to see the evolution throughout the years of armor and weapons.

It was a really fun night!

On Saturday we got together with some friends and watched the BYU game. It wasn't a very exciting game but it was funny seeing how far ahead we were getting. Yay BYU! Great job!

Also, on Sunday Scott and I were sustained in our new calling as being on the Activities Committee. I may be asking all of you for some activity ideas :)

On a lighter note...

I have found a new hobby!

You may think this is a little strange but my new hobby is making girl's bows, clips, etc. No, I'm not having a baby anytime soon I just have always wanted to learn. I took some inspiration from my friend Abbie that lives just above us, she makes cute bows for her daughter. I ordered the supplies and have found that they are really fun to make! I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this new hobby. I think I might try to start selling them online but I don't know quite yet.

These first few are some designs I copied from my friend Abbie (I hope you don't mind):


These are ideas I got online and I put my own spin on them: For the korker (curly) bows I even baked my own ribbon to make it curly---I am pretty proud...

Let me know what you think! I think I am going to make some more---it's fun!

Jobless and Bored

I've had a couple of interviews and have another one scheduled for next week...but still no job....

Being by myself during the day in our apartment is kind of driving me crazy now. It's days like this, that make me wonder what I'm doing in NYC. But then I see Scott come home excited about his school and that's a good reminder.

I hope I get a job soon because being at home all day alone is really getting old...

One Week

One week down, 8 years 51 weeks to go (give or take a year or two)...but what a week it was! I never thought that I would be so busy during my first week of medical school, but I also didn’t think I would be having so much fun. We’ve had a lot of science classes each morning, and I almost wish I had taken a couple more science classes during undergrad so I wouldn’t feel so intimidated when “the-student-who-did-a-master’s-degree-in-most-complicated-science-at-world-renouned-university-overseas” starts correcting the teacher on the first day about the subtle differences between different enzymes I’ve never heard of in the liver. I think to myself, “Hmm, I can barely follow this lecture. I sure hope I’m not the only one who doesn’t have a clue as to what they are talking about. I don’t even know enough to be able to ask a question. If I raised my hand, all I would be able to say is, ‘Time-out! We need a re-do. I don’t get it. One more time from the top!’” Needless to say, I’ve been studying to try and drink from the proverbial “firehose” of information that the professor has eluded to many times this week. After spending a few hours preparing my talk for Sunday, I spent the rest of my Saturday catching up. I’m sure I’ll eventually “get” all that I need to, I’m just still trying to find my groove.

On Tuesday afternoon, we had a basic first responder’s course. Apparently, once you are in medical school, people think you know stuff. They asked people to raise their hands if anyone has had a relative call them up in the last week, asking for medical advice of some sort, and about half the class raised their hands. At any rate, I now know enough that if something were to happen to a stranger while I was riding the subway, my best bet is to pray that there is someone else on the train that has more medical experience than me, because I don’t think I could be of much help to them!

(WARNING FOR THE WEAK STOMACHS: MEDICAL DESCRIPTIONS AHEAD) On Thursday, I met my “first patient,” my cadaver. She is probably around age 40-60, extremely well-preserved (relatively speaking), somewhat short, not-too-skinny-and-not-too-large, and quite beautiful (in a non-disturbing kind of way, mind you). I have a lot of respect for the people who donated their bodies for us to study. I was able to see someone perform a procedure to put in a chest tube on our cadaver (used if someone has a collapsed lung). I was able to feel the hole made in between the ribs, all the way to the lungs. I’ve never touched a human lung before, but now I have. We started dissecting the chest and the arms, and the first step was to take the skin off those areas. Strangely enough, it was relatively easy for everyone in my group, myself included, to jump right into things. There was a definite learning curve associated with using the scalpel to remove the skin, but I eventually got the hang of it. I think I look pretty good with a knife in my hand, if I don’t say so myself. J This was by far an amazing experience, but I know there is a lot of work ahead.

The week before last, we were able to take a boat ride on the Hudson river around most of Manhattan at night, and we cruised right past the Statue of Liberty as it was all lit up. What a cool sight! It made me realize that we really are in New York (well, I guess the subways, the buildings, and all the masses of crazy people kind of gave it away earlier, but you know what I mean!).

Our boat ride view at night.

Sorry about the blurry picture, we were on a moving boat...

Ashley had two job interviews this past week, and one of them was for a position here on the medical campus at Columbia. These are the first interviews she’s had while looking for a job, so we were very happy and excited about them, knowing that many prayers are being answered. We now hope that an interview will turn into a job offer, and hopefully it will be one that is near us.

Scott

Congratulations!

My younger sister Courtney made the Jr. High Volleyball Team! Congrats Court--I am excited and proud of you! She's been on the team the past two years so she is really good. Courtney, tell mom and to take loads of pictures and video to show me:) I wish I was athletic---but I never quite caught onto any sports or had any talent in them.

Talk on Sunday...

Scott and I have been asked to speak in our new NYC ward on Sunday. We have only been in this ward for 2 weeks! The funny thing also is that we spoke in our ward this summer just like a month ago. Anyways...we agreed to do it and our topic is....

We are supposed to talk about the Book of Mormon and how it has helped us in our lives or what it means to us. I'm throwing this topic out to all of you! Please give me feedback, ideas, thoughts, etc. to help me out with this talk. I would like to use the opinions of others in my talk along with my own. Feel free to leave a comment on the blog or send me an e-mail here to help me out.

Potato Recipes I've Made Lately

Spicy Oven Fries

2 potatoes
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon onion salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon chili pepper
1 dash cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 450. Scrub potatoes and pat dry with paper towels. Cut potatoes into thin 1/4 inch lengthwise strips. Mix all seasonings together in a bowl. Place potatoes and seasoning together in a large bowl and toss together. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a large baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in oven for 12 minutes. Turn potatoes, and bake another 12 minutes.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

7-8 red potatoes (skins on)
4 garlic cloves, peeled (whole)
3-4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sour cream
3-4 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons parsley
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Quarter potatoes and place in large pot with some salted water. Add garlic and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain well, then add butter, sour cream, milk, salt, parsley and green onion. Mash to desired consistency. Stir in cheese and serve immediately.

White Coat Ceremony

At lots of medical schools they have what is called the white coat ceremony. This ceremony originated at Columbia. It is a whole program that is kind of like a graduation where they have speakers and put the white coats on the medical students. Here are some pictures from the ceremony. Scott also received his stethescope which is exciting too!

The Medical CenterScott in the processional
Scott putting his coat on (sorry so blurry)
Scott and his white coat
Congratulations pictures

Us and Scott's parents

Online Grocery Delivery!

We decided to try http://www.freshdirect.com/ to order groceries because it is such a pain to carry groceries all of the way home from the store. We ordered our groceries and got them the next day. It was so nice---no wandering around the grocery store. Our first attempt was a success! All of our groceries came in a few cardboard boxes. I just had to unload and now we have food!