End of M1

Tonight, just some pictures from the rest of our short summer break between first and second year.  It felt way too short, obviously, but I know I probably shouldn't be complaining about three weeks of vacation, and I am grateful for it.  I was able to do a lot of amazing and fun stuff, too: one week in Haiti, then a couple of days in Boston, where I caught up with a couple of good friends, then a few days in Maine, with Jake's extended family, who were so hospitable and fun to get to know, and then almost a week in Colorado with my family, which was wonderful as always.  

I had big plans to get some studying in during these weeks (I know, I know... I really wanted to brush up on some stuff that I feel really weak on and that we don't get a ton of instruction on at Emory), but that definitely did not happen.  I should have know better than to lug my microbio book all around with me.  Instead, I read The Tennis Partner, by Abraham Verghese; Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson; and The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.  They were all excellent.  Reading books for pleasure is maybe the thing that I miss most in this life in med school.  I got to spend time with family and good friends, watch some TV, eat delicious meals, sleep in, get some sun, read the news, I even did a little crafting... it was heavenly.

Jellyfish at the New England Aquarium in Boston

More jellyfish

Petting stingrays and sharks!

My amazing friend Liv with some cute kid

Shark!

I LOVE colorful tropical fish... never get tired of watching them.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Piranha!  They were so sparkly and ugly at the same time!

Silvery school

On the commuter rail to Boston from Attleboro, Jake's hometown.

Thai beers while waiting for our friends Arshia and Rob.

At Jake's cousins' gorgeous lake house in Maine.

Surf 'n Turf!!

YUM

Bosco the dog takes a break from the fun.

Sunset boat ride

S'mores in the fire pit... possibly my favorite dessert.

In Colorado... Jake and my sister Olivia battling it out on Fruit Ninja!

Estes Park, CO

My brother Martin and my dad

At Camp T, where my sister Ellen is working for the summer.

Sisters!

Mustache men.

Seriously, this meal was one of the top 10 of my life.

Getting geared up for the zipline!

Mom's excited.

My favorite mountain church, looking eerily green at night.

Emergency french fry stop on the way to Colorado Springs.

Best margs ever at the Rio.

No idea why I ordered frozen- totally not as good.

Old Town, Fort Collins hoppin' on a warm Friday night.

Public piano art project.

Amazing Colorado storm on the way to the airport.

I miss these mountains.

Back to Atlanta.

We are starting back with our endocrine/female reproduction module, so that means hormones, diabetes, goiters, pregnancy... should be interesting!  It is sort of scary to think that the next class will be arriving for orientation in about two weeks, which means that we are officially second year med students, which means that we should actually know something at this point... yikes.  

Tonight I finally cleaned and straightened out my closet, organized my room and hung some pictures on the wall, after moving in over 6 weeks ago.  So I am feeling moved in and settled now, which I really needed, and hopefully will help me to tackle this module with more energy and discipline than I felt I had during year one.  I am both intimidated and optimistic about this coming year, and looking forward to lots of big plans!