Just one of those evenings...

Tonight, I believe, is just going to be one of those evenings...

We finished our second "Mini" (a test with every single subject's questions on it, there's about 125 and we have two and a half hours to complete the exam) with flying colors, and are just really feeling like we've got the hang of medical school down. We are so blessed and so grateful for our education here. 

Tonight our friend Brandy is coming over because her husband Paul is still stuck in the States trying to get a flight home and she's been really bummed out about him not being home yet. So- we are having a Mexican fiesta! Complete with tacos (thank you Mom and Dad for bringing the stuff!), tomatoes, guacamole dip, Spanish rice, the works! And Brandy doesn't know it yet... but I'm making her a "Happy Late Birthday" chocolate cake... a very special rare find down here and I didn't even burn it with our gas stove! I think that's success. :)

Then at 7 we are going up to campus to watch the movie they are showing tonight... The Proposal! Brian and I LOVED that movie and cannot wait to go watch it again. 

So tonight is just one of those evenings where I'm thankful for life, its blessings, and those I have to share it with!

Life's Greatest Lessons

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:"

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
34. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35.. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood.
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere..
39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd
grab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift. 

You Know You're in Medical School when...

... test time has come and NONE of the vending machines have anything caffeinated. 7-up it is :)

... you have palindromes in your head more than normal words. These can include:

     -Branches off the Axillary artery: "Screw The Lawyer, Save A Patient" = Superior Throracic, Thyrocervical trunk, Lateral Thoracic, Subscapular, Anterior Humoral Circumflex, Posterior Humoral Circumflex.

    -Muscles of the Back: "I Love Standing" = Iliocostalis m., Longissimus m., Spinalis m.

    -Names of the Carpal Bones: "She Looks Too Pretty, Try to Catch Her", but it stands for Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquitrium, Pisiform, Trapezoid, Trapezius, Capitate, Hamate

    -Placement of Arteries & Nerves: "The Army goes over the bridge, the Navy goes under the bridge" = Subscapular Artery goes over Superior Transverse Scapular Ligament and Subscapular Nerve goes under it

    -Placement of Muscles: "Lady between Majors" = Latissimus Dorsi between Teres Major and Pec Major

    -Nerve Action: "5, 6, 7, Wings of Heaven!" = Cranial Nerves 5, 6, and 7 form to make Long Thoracic N. which when affected causes winging of the scapula

    -Branches of the Brachial Plexus: "Three Musketeers Assasinated Five mice, Five rats, and Two Unicorns" = Musculocutaneous nerve is C5, 6, and 7; Axillary Nerve is C5 and 6; Median Nerve is C5, 6, 7, 8, T1; Radial N. is C5, 6, 7, 8, T1; Ulnar Nerve is C8, T1

    -Deficiets in the Major Nerves of the Forearm: "Dr Cumab" = Dropped Wrist/Radial N. deficient; Claw Hand/Ulnar N. deficient; Ape hand or Benedict's hand/Median n.

    -Muscles of the Hand: "Loaf" = Lumbricals 1&2, Opponens Pollicis, Abductor Pollicis Brevis, Flexor Pollicis Brevis are all muscles innervated by the Median nerve instead of the Ulnar Nerve in the hand

P.S. ... our first test went great. :) Thank you to whoever prayed for us to study well and diligently! Next test is tomorrow (Histology Practical) and our Anatomy Practical is the next Thursday. It never stops, right?!

Cake

My Mom sent me this in a forward email and I love it. It came at such a perfect time and I wanted to share it with anyone else who might be as blessed by it as I was!

-------------

Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?" Here is a wonderful explanation! 

A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away. 

Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake." 

"Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers. 
"Yuck" says her daughter.

 "How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!"

 "Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" 
 "Mom, those are all yucky!" 
 
To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! " 

God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful! 

God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart. 

You Know You're in Medical School when...

"... Microsoft Word doesn't recognize half the words you're writing. Every other word is 'apparently' misspelled." -Brian