1 year down... 3 to go

Today Scott officially finished his 1st year of Medical School! I am so proud of him for working so hard. It's crazy that we now have one year down... it has gone by so fast!

I asked Scott to share some highlights of his first year. This is what he said:

• White Coat Ceremony - Even though I don't know what I'm doing, at least now I look like I know what I'm doing.
• Anatomy lab - dissecting my cadaver, aka my "first patient." My mind's view of the body will forever be changed, and it is imprinted with the delicate nerves and vessels of my cadaver's flesh.
• Shadowing in the OR - scrubbing in on a heart surgery and touching a live heart, seeing it stop . . . and start again, and seeing a full hip replacement, complete with power tools and all.
• Columbia-Harlem Homeless Medical Partnership (CHHMP) - Each Tuesday night from 5:30 to 10:00, providing healthcare to street-homeless individuals in Harlem. As you might imagine, I've met people here in the city looking for help who have life stories I couldn't make up even if I tried. All types of drug addicts, dealing drugs, stealing cars, prostitution as a means of staying alive, sleeping on trains, etc. At times I wish I could do more than give them allergy and blood pressure medication, advice on how to keep their infected feet both clean and in-grown toenail-free, and a new pair of socks...but I hope that what we do do makes a difference.
• Assisting a lung transplant - "harvesting" the donor's lungs at 3:00am - then racing back to our hospital with siren's blaring to put them in the recipient whose lungs have failed them from years of cystic fibrosis damage.
• Being a witness to both life (delivering a baby in the hospital) and death (in the ER)

This summer Scott will be busy doing research with a Urologist. The research he is doing is comparing patients who've had both cryotherapy (freezing) on their prostate cancer and organ transplants.

Cody's Graduation!

My little (but a lot taller) brother Cody graduated from High School on June 4th! I was sad that we couldn't be there... but so excited for him! He will be going to BYU in the Fall. Thanks Mom for posting pictures on Facebook! Sorry this is a late post too...

My little (but taller) sister Courtney in this picture just finished up Jr. High and will be heading to High School! Our family is growing up...

We went to Boston for memorial day weekend...

And ran a half marathon! I know that this is a late post, but better late than never. I have a bunch of pictures I wanted to post from our Boston trip but for some reason, this is the only picture blogger will let me post...so I have put off posted until I got it figured out, but I didn't. These are our friends in NYC that we ran with.

This race was the hardest thing I have ever done physically, I really didn't think I would finish. It was really hot, and it was humid, and the race didn't start until 8:00 am. I saw people passing out around me, saw a few people on stretchers and hoped that I wouldn't be one of them. I started getting dizzy and blacking out a few times during the race, so I'd slow down during those times. When I came up the final hill and started on the downhill I thought I was almost to the finish line, but it was further than I thought. Scott saw me during this time while he was waiting for me to finish, and ran up to help me finish. He was trying to give me encouraging words, but all I was saying was, "I can't do this, I'm going to die..." He kept me going, and helped me get to the finish, even though I was getting mad at him for being so perky. When I finished I told him to hold me up because I really thought I was going to pass out. I have never been good with heat and get very overheated easily.

I thought that I would love running after training for a half marathon or that it would get easy at some point. All I can say is that I don't hate running as much as I used too, and it still has not gotten easy. I'm glad that we ran the race, and that I finished. I proved to myself that I can do something if I put my mind to it. Never before would I have ever thought that I could complete 13.1 miles.

We had a great trip to Boston! It was mine and Scott's first time going there, and I loved the area. I was surprised at how different Boston was from New York. It had a sort of small town feel, but it wasn't a really small town. It was very calm, and relaxing being there. We went to a Red Sox game one night when we were there. Scott and I weren't planning on going because it was sort of expensive. Walking with our friends to Fenway Park, we decided that we wanted to go, and bought some tickets someone was selling. It was fun to experience a Red Sox game. We also went to some really good restaurants, and just had an overall good time with our friends. It was nice to get a break from the city for the weekend.

I'm going home....

I'm singing Chris Daughtry's song as I'm writing this... ("I'm going home, Back to the place where I belong...") 1 month from today I'll be in Utah! Scott will be there a few days before that. I'm so excited to be going home! It will have been 6 months since I've been home. That may not seem like a long time to some, but this is the longest I've been away from my family... I'm taking 8 days off of work, so it will be a 12 day trip-hurray!

My Prediction Was Correct

On April 20th I made, "My Prediction" for the top 3 of American Idol. I should have officially posted it sooner, because I really knew all along. But... I was right! Just wanted everyone to know that:)

Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding Copycat Recipe

For those of you that have been to Magnolia Bakery you know how good their banana pudding is. For those of you who haven't and won't be in NYC anytime soon, here's a copycat recipe to make it at home. I think it's pretty close to the real thing....mmmmmm. It's a really easy recipe, try it out!

1 1/2 packages instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups cold water
1-14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups heavy cream
1 box Nilla wafers
4 ripe bananas

Put vanilla pudding mix in a bowl. Whisk in water and sweetened condensed milk. Once it's whisked together, let it sit for 15 minutes: it'll thicken up. Whisk casually every few minutes until it's nice and thick.

Whip cream with an electric mixer until it gets soft peaks. Fold the cream into the pudding base.

Slice up bananas. Arrange1/3 of Nilla wafers along the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan, top with half of the bananas. Top with half of the pudding mixture. Top with another 3rd of your Nilla wafers and the rest of your bananas. Put the rest of the pudding on top and then crush the remaining Nilla wafers until they're a powder and sprinkle over the finished pudding.

Cover with plastic wrap, keep in the fridge (it should be in there for a few hours to meld; it gets better the next day).

Scotty got a haircut!

Both of us haven't gotten haircuts since we went home for Christmas. Scott's hair has been getting a little shaggy so on Sunday when he woke up he asked for a haircut. I was surprised because I've been asking him over and over. I thought he'd never let me cut his hair again after it took me 2 hours last time... This time it only took me 1 hour instead of 2, I'm getting better and better:)

Before:

After:

Taste of Chinatown!

Scott came up a fun date for Friday night. He put together a food tour of Chinatown for us to do. He planned 4 different places where we would go and try a little of something to eat at each place.

The first place was not in Chinatown but on the outskirts. Scott's been wanting to go to Donut Plant, and I've been there once before so we decided to make that our first stop. They close as soon as they are out of donuts, so we went there quick after I got off of work. We got a strawberry cake donut and a crème brûlée donut. We ate the strawberry donut on the way to the next place, and saved the crème brûlée for later when we got home. Picture further down on this post.

The next place we went to was a dumpling place. Dumplings are the same as potstickers, gyoza, etc. As we were walking toward the little store there was a line out the door, so we knew we were at a great place - Prosperity Dumpling! They sell their dumplings 5 for a dollar, what a deal! We took the dumplings to a little park to eat, and they did not disappoint!After dumplings we went to a Chinese restaurant, Big Wing Wong! They had the meat roasting so you could see it walking in. Scott loves the meat you can get with crispy skin. This was our main course stop so Scott got pork and rice, and I got a pork lo mein. It was really good, and way too much food! Each entree was very cheap but we could have gotten away with getting just one meal. Here's a picture of the hanging meat:

When we got home we ate our crème brûlée donut. It was really good! It was a small donut because it's very rich, mmmm...

It was a really fun night! We'll have to have a taste of every neighborhood in New York before we leave. Food is a great way to experience each unique part of the city:)

Our last stop was for ice cream at Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. They had interesting flavors like Black Sesame Seed, Taro Root, Lychee, etc. Scott tried some of the unique ones but we played it safe with Scott getting Mango, and me getting Coconut. I loved the coconut! It was so creamy with chunks of coconut throughout. Here are some pictures of the store and us with our ice cream:

Happy Earth Day!

What do you do on Earth Day? We were discussing this at work. One attorney pulled out his reusable water bottle and he said, "today I will use this!" Share with me what you are doing for Earth Day:)

Daily reminders we live in NYC

Sometimes when I'm in our apartment I forget that we live in NYC. I know that it might seem weird, but our apartment is Utah to me. It's full of familiar things, pictures of family, etc. Each day when I walk out the door I am reminded of where we live. Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes a bad thing. Here are some of those moments that remind me (sorry this is long):

1. Walking to the subway stop, avoiding presents dogs left behind, so gross!
2. Rushing down the subway stairs, afraid to miss the train
3. Getting annoyed when people don't know how to swipe their card
4. Contemplating, A train or C train....
5. Getting perfect "placement" along the platform waiting for the train to come. ie: I like to be at the back of the train, perfect placement for my transfer. It's also good to be on the front row of people, to ensure to get on the train.
6. Looking on the tracks and seeing an unwelcome rat or two. I used to make a game of counting, but once I got to 20 I stopped, too gross to think about.
7. Fighting for a seat on the subway (not literally fighting, just hurrying to a seat when you see it). Sometimes I get a seat, sometimes I don't. There is a funny Seinfeld episode involving Kramer trying to get a seat on the subway. If you aren't fast enough, you'll lose out.
8. Not having to drive, and reading on my commute
9. Seeing some of the crazies on the subway
10. Running at my transfer stop, to get onto my next train
11. Same thing again with "placement"
12. Getting on my final train and breathing with a sigh of relief, now I can relax
13. Getting to your stop and some lady keeps saying excuse me to get past you, when she knows and you know that basically everyone is going to get off that same stop.
14. Seeing the beauty of the East Side after coming above ground
15. Marveling at the huge buildings, though you see them everyday
16. Scanning your building pass and feeling like a VIP because you work such a nice building
17. Riding the elevator up 37 floors, and having your ears pop
18. Looking out the window of an attorneys office and looking out across the city. It's breathtaking! I should take a picture when my attorney is gone one day.
19. Getting ready to go home and know that you have a 45 minute commute, but you won't have to drive in traffic:)
20. Getting home and stopping off at a local produce stand on the sidewalk, picking up milk from rite-aid (I know buying milk at a pharmacy is weird, but it's cheaper than the grocery store)
21. Carrying the groceries you bought home... milk is heavy
22. Going on a run, and seeing the GWB (George Washington Bridge)
23. Getting back to your apartment amazed you survived another day, and realize you are exhausted
24. Looking out the window over the river, and seeing all the lights.
25. Going to sleep hearing the "sounds of New York" ie: sirens, cars, motorcycles, etc.

Each day even though I'm exhausted, I realize we live in a pretty cool place. There are times when it is frustrating and very inconvenient to live here, but it's our home for right now, and I know we'll miss it when we are gone:)

The reason I love Tuesdays...

American Idol Girl's Nights!

Almost every Tuesday night while some of our hubby's are at the homeless clinic in Harlem, the girls get together at Abbie's for American Idol. When SYTYCD was on, we watched that, now it's American Idol. We like to critique and comment on the performances and I love to hear everyone's opinions. We snack, and talk between performances, and sometimes during if the performance is boring. It's just an all around good time with the girls.

Tonight the top 7 will perform and I am very excited about that.

I'm going to make this official, my top 3 prediction for American Idol. I may be wrong, but it's fun to guess.

1. Lee
2. Crystal
3. Casey

I think that Lee Dewyze will/should win the entire competition. He is my favorite and he is very talented. There could be a shocker week like when Chris Daughtry got kicked off early, but if the votes go the way they should then Lee will win. If you watch American Idol let me know your predictions.

Requests for New Recipes!

What's for Dinner?

One of the things I was most excited about when getting married was having someone to cook for. I love to cook and thought it would be so fun to plan and make meals. I had this vision of Scott coming home and me having dinner all made for him. My dream didn't include the fact that both of us would both be busy with work and school. Anyways...I need some help! I feel like I am in a cooking rut and need some recipes to help me out. Does anyone else have this problem? If you have any recipes that you would like to share with me I would greatly appreciate it! I will post any recipes that I receive. I will also post any other recipes that I make to hopefully help others out that may have this problem.

Reminiscing

I was looking at some pictures of our wedding this morning, and wanted to post one of my favorites. That's all.... good times! I love wedding pictures! I know when I show my kids someday they'll think my wedding dress was ugly and old fashioned, but I love it:)

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Picture stolen from Abbie's blog. Isn't she an amazing photographer?

Here's the recipe: These cupcakes are really good and semi-homemade which are the kind of recipes I love! This recipe is from this book:

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes:
1 package white cake mix

2 eggs

1 cup whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups diced strawberries

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 recipe whipped cream

Add sugar to strawberries in a medium bowl. Stir and set aside. Mix together cake mix, eggs, whipping cream, vanilla, and salt and beat until light and fluffy. Pour 1-2 tablespoons batter into paper liners. Add 2 tablespoons strawberry mixture on top. Cover strawberries with more batter and fill 3/4 full. Save extra strawberries for garnish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Allow cake to cool slightly before serving with whipped cream and strawberries.

Frost with Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar (depending on your preference)

Pour cream into large mixing bowl and start mixing at low speed. Gradually increase speed until cream thickens and soft peaks form. Turn off mixer and add sugar. Start slowly again--to avoid a mess. Beat until stiff peaks form.

*The stiffer the cream, the easier it is to frost the cupcakes. Keep refrigerated.

How many police officers does it take to catch a coyote in NYC?

Apparently 30...Dozens of squad cars... and a helicopter?

If you want to read the news story click here.