NYE 2013

2013 has been one of the best years of my life. Of course, it's the year that I'm 27 and being a superstitious person, makes sense. For me the best ages have always ended in a 7. Age 7 was momentous for one reason or another, age 17 I peered into the depths of my mind and met myself, and age 27 I got married and started medical school. All good things occur every 10 years.

Everyone always talks about med school like you have to "survive" it to become a great doctor. But it's not really a survival-type course. We don't learn how to become resourceful and we don't become practitioners in the first two years. The learning modality is one of formative experiences and solidifying the basic sciences knowledge base. You don't survive med school, you progress throughout. Your mental dexterity adapts to the new challenges and you arrive at the end of the four years as a competent physician.

After the disaster that was Block Exam 3, I realized that I needed to spend more time actually learning the material and focus less on simply passing each class. Not to negate the obvious importance of passing each class, but to realize that everything put before us in each course will affect patient care in the future. Perhaps that's an extreme perspective to adopt, and I knew from Day Zero that we can't actually learn everything, but I am sure giving it a running try.

Recap of the most momentous part of 2013:

Discovered my love of Grimes, cats, knitting, and escaping reality. 

Learned how to apply several ounces of makeup over a small sq ft area. 

Thanks to Erin and Lynz for help with this mess!

Visited the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. Sat on the remnants of the Giant's shoe which according to legend fell off when the Scottish Giant was making his escape from the not-so-brave Irish Giant Finn MacCool. 

 Married this cute face (more on that later):

Visited the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

Biked and hiked the to edge of the world on Inis Mor of the Aran Islands in West Ireland. 

This most scenic bike ride ended with a fantastic view of the ocean from Dun Aonghasa...and ice cream! 

Enjoyed Dublin city-limits with my favorite gals from high school! 

Married on the lawn of this beautiful lodge

 Hair and makeup team:

Awkwardly making the rounds post-wedding ceremony:

Love, Beer, Delphi Lodge

Newest critter: Riker. Adopted 5/12/2013

Attended Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker with my nieces

More of Riker....

and back to Ireland... Robert enjoying dessert in Portrush

Galway, Ireland. Great college and port town.

Honeymoon in London!

 Rick Steves walking tour through London.

Winston Churchill (the pig) loved his wife Clementine (the cat) 

Necessary visit: Platform 9 3/4

View from St. Paul's Cathedral

And there's a relatively adequate summary (minus evidence of med school and recent holidays) of the past year. Now to get back to knitting and enjoying the last few hours of Two Thousand Thirteen.

See you in Twenty Fourteen!