So I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time. There are so many updates to be shared, but then exam time snuck up and I have been spending every last hour I am not sleeping studying.

First big update has been my selective I am doing at the hospital. I started a couple weeks ago making regular visits to the hospital as part of the selective where we work with physicians and take patient histories and do patient exams – a basic H&P. It has been so cool. I spent over a year volunteering at a hospital in Long Beach before coming to SGU which, in some ways, I was able to see way more than I will ever see in Grenada. However, I love how much we now know. It seems that with each patient I see, I have a pretty decent idea of what is going on. I understand the lab work, I can read and interpret the x-rays and imaging very well, and now I can even understand and start to interpret EKGs. I think the part I enjoy the most is that I can start to see how all of this knowledge I am stuffing into my brain really works together. I work with two different doctors, one who is in ER and one who on a basic medical ward in the general hospital. So far it has been so much fun and so rewarding. The 8+ hours out of my week has been draining, but I think totally worth it. And since we have the next 2 weeks off for exams, I can through myself back into school.

The next big thing I have been doing is leading DES review session for Anatomy. I am pretty sure everyone here knew that I wanted to lead these session by about our 4th week of classes last term. Peer tutoring and explaining concepts is something that I love to do. Perhaps in another life I would make a really good teacher, but I want to be hands on way too much to be able to do that long term. Nevertheless, it has been such a wonderful experience to sort of guide the new class of 1st termers through their hard classes. And as a plus, I think I now know my anatomy about 5 times better than I did after exams last term. Something about seeing it again makes it set in, plus I am constantly surprised by how many of the small details I still remember.

Thirdly, in a non-school related matter – Tyler and I have found a new place to move into this May. We decided last term that our current apartment was simply a little too quirky and a little too small for our likes. Plus, we knew that we could find a nicer place for a lot cheaper rent, so we decided that we would definitely move this summer. We found the most wonderful apartment that is sort of “off-route” as they would call it here. Since it is not on the main road to campus, the rent is almost half of what we pay now. But, it is on the water of the bay, has great big open windows to let the breeze in, is within a gated yard with fruit trees, has a little patio right in front that is all ours. Plus, the property has a big deck and pool that will be fantastic to have on those occasions where we can just sit outside and relax. When we started looking for places, I came up with a bunch of lofty desires for our new place in hopes of being sure that we spent time finding one we would really be comfortable in and that would easily accommodate us both needing to do work and school at the same time. And amazingly enough, we found a place with all of them (minus the hammock, but I will live.) Oh, and it has couches. 3 of them! I cannot wait to move and I am already coming up with ways to craft some cute decorations to make it more homey.

I feel like those are the big highlights. Exams are not too far off, starting a week from Monday. This term is just flying on by. Your prayers as I prepare would be much appreciated.

And for those of you that read regularly, it is spring on the blog again! Since the blog kicked off with our lovely green spring tree (our wedding tree I might add), I feel like we have come full circle. And it also means that our first year of marriage is quickly coming to an end. Crazy how fast life moves sometimes.