Ultimate Coffee Date: July 2015

Hi everyone! I’m linking up with Coco @ Got 2 Run 4 Me, Lynda @ Fitness Mom Wine Country, & Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner for the monthly Ultimate Coffee Date! Pull up a chair/bean bag/whatever you like to sit on and come link and/or catch up with us! :]

If we were having coffee/tea this morning…I’d tell you that study hibernation is once again the basis of my life! I’m taking my boards licensing exam on the 31st, and I really hope my decision to still be on rotations will not come back to bite me. ._.

Welcome to my daily struggles whilst at the shelter!

While I’m on the subject of my foster kitty, I brought her back to Please Save A Cat 2 weeks ago, and my heart is a little broken.

I’m going to miss the meowmeow so much! <3 (That ring is from Vicky’s giveaway a couple weeks ago–thanks again!)

If we were having coffee/tea this morning…I’d tell you that I’m a little bit sad. :[

Aside from saying goodbye to Princess Muffin (chillest cat on the face of the planet and a stone-cold killer of random flies in my apartment), my third year of medical school officially ended last week.

I’m super thrilled about this, even though all that really changes is that I can now write “OMS-IV” after my email signature, instead of “OMS-III.”

But…it also meant having to say a whole lot of goodbyes. We’re effectively scattering all across the country (more on that on this upcoming Monday’s post, but I will basically be in 7 different states over the next 10 months).

A couple of my closest friends from med school and I had dinner together for the last time til either December (if we can meet up in the bay!!) or…graduation. I forgot to snap a picture of the four of us, but here’s 75% of our group! <3

Us looking incredibly unimpressed and/or annoyed.

“Okay fine! We can take one normal picture.”

Since he’s not in our group picture, I’m including him in a separate one! I made this picture as a prank birthday gift after I found out he was once an A+F model.

A+ Microsoft paint skills, right?! <3 (I won my class t-shirt design contest with those aforementioned skills, so it’s gotta count for something!)

I’m going to miss all the pranks we used to play on each other during our study sessions! (For instance, that time I supermanned past the room Sean was studying in.)

This was from one of our last group dinners with some of the ladies in our region.

If we were having coffee/tea this morning…I’d tell you that I knew medical school wasn’t going to be easy, but it’s in more ways than I thought it’d be.

I knew there’d be a somewhat terrifying volume of information I’d be expected to learn and retain in a  frighteningly short period of time, and I knew I’d have to make sacrifices (and will continue having to do so), but what surprised me most was how isolating it could feel.

I’ve missed countless birthdays and weddings, and even a couple funerals and would-be emergencies. Most of my closest friends and family aren’t in the medical field, and I’ve felt like I’ve been growing farther and farther apart from them as the years have gone by.

On the flip side, I’ve also been incredibly blessed in that we can always pick up where we last left off, and it makes me cherish the times that I do get to spend with them even more. I’ve also made amazing friends along the way, and have been welcomed and adopted into so many families that I’m going to miss, so, so much. <3

One such family = Linda & Scott! <3 Scott’s in a contest for a grant from Wells Fargo to help its winners/finalists to further their businesses. Please vote for him here!

I’m really excited as to where this last(!!!) school year is going to take me, and I’m definitely going to have to make it count!

• How often do you get to see your friends/family?
• How do you deal with goodbyes?
• If you travel a lot for work, care to share some tips with me? :O