The Happiest Place on Earth

So the week of July 4th I found out I was going to have Friday off in addition to Wednesday.  So I called Amy, who currently resides in UT and was already planning to come visit at some point, to ask if there was any way she could come that weekend instead so we could go to Disneyland for two days instead of just one.  Well.....she made it happen!  Good thing she likes D-land so much.  We had a blast.  We partied at Disneyland all day Friday and all day Saturday.  We're talking 7:30 am to 11:00 pm - no breaks, on Saturday that is.    We're hard core when it comes to all things Disney.  With the opening of Cars Land, lines in Disneyland were almost non-existent.  Perfect timing on our part; longest line we stood in was only 30 minutes.  I mean who can turn down a second ride on Indiana Jones or Splash Mountain when the workers ask if you just want to stay on the ride for a second go around? And how about those soup bowls, churros, chocolate covered bananas, and dole whips?  Delish!  The above photo is my favorite.  This storm trooper wouldn't take a picture w/ me, but instead ordered me to follow him.  Amy got a sweet picture of the whole thing.  I already want to go back!

Sunday we finished our fabulous weekend off at the beach, La Jolla Shores.

Road Trip!

My Mom flew out to Portland to spend the worst 20 hrs. of her life in the passenger seat driving down to San Diego w/ me, occasionally seeing a new perspective in the driver's seat.  She is a gem and I am so grateful she offered to drive down w/ me.  We pit stopped it for the night in Sac Town (aka Sacramento) and I spent the evening w/ a friend who drove out from San Francisco so we could catch up.  Best part of the whole drive down (not that I didn't love seeing my friend or spending time w/ my mom, but.....come on!) = lunch at In N Out Burger!!  My goal for the next 6 weeks in San Diego: eat at In N Out once per week.  I mean, lying on the beach while the sun burns off all the extra calories will take care of it, right??

So Long Portland

I've been gone for over 3 weeks now and have so much to blog about.  Like I said in my previous post, I had mixed feelings about leaving Portland.  I was excited to leave the state, have a new adventure, and get out of my living situation.  On the other hand, I was going to miss everything Portland has to offer.  I have really LOVED the last year I spent there, minus the rain of course.  And that was the other thing!  I was going to miss the best part of the year in Portland!  June through November.  Beautiful scenery, fresh air, hills and mountains, picnics in the park, berry picking, hiking, mtn. biking, the coast, downtown and the waterfront, amazing restaurants, fresh seafood, food carts, live music, outdoor festivals and markets, people watching, and the list goes on.  There is so much to do!  And summer and fall are the best time to do it.  I'm going to miss it terribly.  I have missed it.  But most of all, I miss these ladies.......they are my favorite and I cannot wait to see them again in a few weeks!

So the week before I left I had a pretty full schedule checking things off my PDX bucket list.  I put a good dent in it so I feel pretty good about it.  Went to dinner w/ the best of the best and finally had to say goodbye to everyone.  Knowing I would see them all again in 6 weeks made the parting bearable.  But next time, who knows how long it will be.....

Rotation #1 McMinnville, Oregon

My first rotation was in a small rural town about 40 min SW of Portland.  I decided to commute for the 6 weeks to keep my place, as well as my friends and social life.  I worked four days a week w/ 10 hr. shifts.  3 day weekends baby.  Can't exactly remember how I spent them, but it was sure delightful.  The clinic I worked at in McMinnville was the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Clinic and targeted at the migrant farm workers from Mexico w/out insurance.  It was definitely an underserved population, which my school is big on.  About half of the patients I saw were Spanish-speaking so it was nice to be using my Spanish again!  That was definitely my favorite part about the rotation.

I was a bit frustrated during the first week of my rotation because I was mostly observing my preceptor and not getting to do a whole lot.  My responsibilities progressed, though, through the weeks.  Looking back, I actually had a lot of opportunity for history taking, performing the physical exam, and charting the notes.  I wasn't involved too much on the prescribing process or the process on the next best step, but it was my first rotation.  What do you expect?  I expected more actually.  It turned out fine, though, and I developed some great skills, a safe place to start out my clinical training.  I averaged seeing about 10 patients of my own a day, plus observing another 5-10 of his.  Even though, I didn't appreciate it at the time, I'm actually quite glad I got to observe so much to see how my preceptor approaching things and what to say in certain cases.  I think it was a great learning experience.  Other classmates of mine didn't have that opportunity.  It was also great experience in knowing what to do next when the patient does not have insurance.  We did not have the luxury of ordering any lab test or imaging to help diagnose the problem.

Let me tell you.....when I found out I was going to McMinnville first, I was extremely disappointed.  All I wanted to do was go out of state somewhere.  But, when the time to leave Portland came closer, I found I was actually really sad to leave.  I have loved it here.  More on that next post........

P.S. The reason for the airplane on the roof picture is because McMinnville is known for its famous Air and Space Museum.  This particular plane is actually the start to a few water slides that go down into a waterpark.  I never did make it to the museum, and it was only 2 blocks from where I work!

Beach Weekend, or rather Coast

Funny that the beach in Oregon is referred to as the coast, too cold to call it a beach.  But, what better way to spend Memorial Day Weekend than w/ 10 friends at a beach house on the Oregon coast?  Well, it might have been better had the sun showed its beautiful rays a little more than it did.  High 50 degree weather didn't keep us from the beach, though, and at least it didn't rain.  3 fantastic days were spent playing beach volleyball, jumping in the ocean (can't say swimming at this point, too cold for that), building fires, lounging about, chatting, playing games, laughing our heads off, getting our groove on, and eating beyond our heart's content.  There was SO much food!  Enough to feed us all for a week.  And I just couldn't stop.  Can't wait to get back into a workout routine.  Such a a great, perfect, relaxing weekend w/ the best of friends.  These ladies are my faves!