Back in the saddle and Busier than EVER! :)

Hello all! So, as you probably noticed, I took a break from blogging while we were on Thanksgiving break, (which was since November 6th). We were out a whole 3 and a half weeks and we just started back this Monday. It's a new quarter, new schedule, and just new everything pretty much. Lots going on and I'll be plenty busy this quarter until mid February or so.

So here we go! Here's a brief idea of what my schedule is like this quarter.

So...it's a little intense. We're taking about 25 credits this quarter and our BASI classes (all the blue ones) account for 15 of those alone. On top of that, I'm taking Ocular anatomy (lots of memorization), Geometric and Physical Optics (lots of math/physics), and our continued Clinical Service class and lab that I took last quarter. We also have more exams in these other classes and more practicals. The two weeks after we come back from Christmas break in a few weeks has four exams and two practicals alone. Which brings me to my next point.

We just started back, but we only have 2 more weeks until they let us off for Christmas and New Years, which is slightly exciting. We get the 21st of December off through the 2nd of January and then we have one day of class that Friday the 3rd before the weekend again. So if we can make it through these next few weeks, we get a short break again here soon. I'm more than okay with it.

This week definitely felt a little long (we have longer days now) and busy. We've already had an entire week of our BASI (basic science) lectures and have an exam this upcoming Tuesday again, as usual. We're starting to get into the anatomy systems more and more and actually Tuesday after our exam we have a 3 hour lab where we will be working on actual cadavers. This will be a first for me (I've only ever dissected a rabbit/frogs/etc. in college biology). I think I'll be okay, but it's more the smell of formaldehyde that bothers me and tends to give me a bad headache. So 3 hours of that should be great fun. 

This week we ended in our clinical services class and lab getting into the basics of the slit lamp (above). It's basically a glorified microscope that we can move around and see pretty minute details of the eye/lids/retina with a few different colored lights. My partner for lab today snapped this picture of my eye while she was practicing on me.

My iris up and close! 

We will be spending the next few weeks getting more familiar with this instrument since its a huge part of what we will be doing in the future, so for now we just barely got our feet wet today and learned what the different knobs and levers did and proper technique. The rest of the time today we spent doing full exams on our partners with the skills that we learned last quarter, so we can keep it fresh and because our instructor told us to. :)

And that was about it for this week. I rewarded myself with burger king chicken strips and a milkshake on my way home tonight after a long day/week at school (I know, healthy, right?) Which reminds me. Back a while ago I said I was going to be getting myself back into shape and working on losing some weight simultaneously (somewhere around mid September). Thus far I have lost a little over 12 pounds total, which I am pretty happy with considering I haven't done a whole lot different. That was just from running a few times a week and eating smaller portions of food. I stopped buying "junk" from the grocery store and stopped my soda drinking (almost entirely) and that's what's done it. I do occasionally allow myself a soda if I go out to eat with friends or family though, but that's about it. Before, I was drinking at least a couple every day.

So I'm happy with my progress AND I managed not to gain back anything while I was home over break and over Thanksgiving (which is an accomplishment...having all those good homemade meals that my Mom made :) ) And I'm still going at it, slowly but surely. Once I get into the swing of this quarter, I will probably work out a better exercise routine for myself so that I don't plateau at this weight  :P .

Until next week, that's about it! This weekend will be filled with studying and homework, and a little bit of extra sleep of course. I've slept probably around 12 hours total over the last 3 nights. Good times.

Hope you all have a wonderful next week!

P.S. Oh, and how could I forget? Here's my wonderful Christmas tree that is in my living room. :)

Decorating

Eyes a little crazy, but the tree is pretty at least! :)