7 May
Today is my (not so little) brother Shawn’s 20th birthday!
Looking forward to spending a couple months with him when he comes home from college next week. Talks about politics/world news and lots of teasing will be in store. Can’t wait!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHAWN! Welcome to your twenties!
p.s. Check out Shawn’s sweet new blog. It’s in the blogroll to the right.–>
29 Apr
BMJD is a rockstar. She lives in Africa and is in the Peace Corps. Senior year of college, we all watched her jump through a gazillion bureaucratic hoops for admission/clearance. After all that, she’s finally there! She is a huge inspiration to me–if she can go all the Africa, I can go to Arizona, right?!
I wrote her a letter this morning (look for it in the mail, BMJD!) and then checked her blog to get the address. Much to my surprise, there was a new post! That got me thinking about technology and blogging and letter writing and connectedness.
Blogs are not foreign to me. I read The Pioneer Woman, Annie’s Eats, Ali Edwards, and Jasmine Star every morning, right before with The New York Times and Huff Po. But having my own blog? That’s a whole different story. I feel presumptuous even writing one, as if my life is interesting enough to need/want a blog.
A couple nights ago I wrote in my journal, “Most important to me: family and friends and staying connected through these changes.” I think this blog will be one way to do that, and to document my life along the way.
In honor of that sentiment, here’s a smorgasbord of some of my favorite culinary creations, people, places, and events from the past few weeks.
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smor⋅gas⋅bord [smawr-guh
s-bawrd, -bohrd or, often, shmawr-]
1. a buffet meal of various hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, salds, casserole dishes, meats, cheeses, etc.
2. an extensive array or variety
Origin: 1915–20; < Sw smörgsbord, equiv. to smörgs sandwich + bord table
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(Luke, that was for you, in honor of your English Shades of Meaning project)
Easter Sunday with my wonderful, pastel-colored family:
A trip to Crofton, Nebraska for a party/barn dance celebrating JEMS’s parents’ 25th wedding anniversary. Yeah for the Jitterbug!! (And HAPPY BIRTHDAY today, JEMS!!)
Working in the afternoon/evening means that I have free time in the mornings. A perfect morning now involves a cup of tea, Pandora, and a good recipe. Here’s one of my latest favorites: PESTO! (recipe from The Des Moines Register)
Visits with friends! TSTD came to D-town over Easter and ERG was in O-town last weekend. Explored the new IA/NE pedestrian bridge, made/ ate good food, gave RET a pep-talk about his upcoming MCAT, and enjoyed lots of laughs and updates on each others’ lives. Yeah for good friendships!
(which are good for our health, according to this article! Favorite quote from that article: And notably, proximity and the amount of contact with a friend wasn’t associated with survival. Just having friends was protective.)
And last but not least, lately I’ve been volunteered as a chauffeur for my brothers. I can’t complain too much, though, because it means I’ve gotten to hang out with them. Most recently: a college visit with Luke. (who was oh-so-excited that I wanted to document our day with lots of photos!)
Here’s another quote from that article I mentioned before:
Last year, researchers studied 34 students at the University of Virginia, taking them to the base of a steep hill and fitting them with a weighted backpack. They were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone.
The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.
“People with stronger friendship networks feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center for gerontology at Virginia Tech. “Friendship is an undervalued resource. The consistent message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”
Pretty cool, huh? So thankful for my friends, both near and far!!
24 Mar
I’m sure the five readers of this blog were waiting on edge to hear the results of the poll last week. And they all voted correctly, probably because they were all involved in the trip. You guessed it, the family was all off for Spring Break last week, so we took a road trip to Chicago! There was no baseball (sorry, Luke), but lots of good family time nonetheless.
Some of my highlights:
Watching them dye the river NEON green!
Hanging out with my parents in the mornings (while my brothers slept). Of course we brought all our Irish gear so we could be decked out for the festivities!
Watching the famous Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade, especially hearing/seeing the bagpipers and the Irish dancers.
Getting rush day tickets to see Jersey Boys. Great show/story and AWESOME music!!
(no photo, but a wonderful show and gorgeous theater!)
Finding this bakery (a trip inspired by one of my favorite blogs) after looking all over The Loop at all hours of the night and morning. It was worth it, though! I enjoyed my blueberry vanilla “breakfast cupcake” (aka muffin). YUM!
Seeing a show at The Second City…and laughing our heads off!
Playing games at night in our sweet hotel with the whole family…Scattergories (created by me & Luke) and a hilarious game of Charades.
And last but not least, eating delicious pizza & shakes at an Obama family favorite, Medici, in Hyde Park near the University of Chicago. On the drive back, we rated/ranked all the restaurants we visited on the trip and this was the unanimous favorite. The Obamas and the Gudes agree: this restaurant is awesome!
Have I mentioned I love my family?!?
Here’s the big photo album if you want to see even more: Chicago Family Vacation
12 Mar
Although this year was definitely not in my plan, it’s nights like these that make me appreciate the unplanned. This year I’ve gotten to spend lots of quality time with my not-so-little-anymore, baseball-obsessed little brother Luke. Tonight Luke and I enjoyed a lovely dinner of pasta, mozerella sticks, green beans, apples with cinnamon. And lots of laughs. Luke can crack a good joke, let me tell you. So in anticipation of lots of family time coming up (and me figuring out how to insert polls into my blog!), here’s a little teaser about our Spring Break Plans!
6 Mar
According to the admissions offices, this was the week that some big decisions might be made…so I was on pins and needles in anticipation. While perusing two of my favorite cooking blogs, I came upon the perfect remedy: Pick several delicious, complicated recipes and sort through the intricacies of homemade white chocolate whipped cream!
Stressed out to the max, I had spent the previous day and a half baking up a storm. All that baking turned out to come in handy when I had something to celebrate: (Nearly) two years since applying for med school the first time, I got into TWO med schools within 4 minutes of each other!
The phone rang at 3:55 pm. My hands were in the sink, covered in soapy water as I washed baking dishes for the twelve-millionth time. I heard the answering machine start and a familiar voice came on. I grabbed a towel as I ran to the phone. “Melissa?” It was the admissions counselor from SOMA! She told me the good news and I jumped up and down, cried, hugged my mom (who had just walked in the door), and felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. I was going to med school!
So, of course, we took some pictures!
Yeah! (and YUM!)
(I had to include a close up of one of the treats: 4 layers of dark chocolate cake with white chocolate whipped cream + strawberries in between and on top. Thank you, AnniesEats!)
SOMA! (cue The Strokes song here, Luke…)
Dozens of phone calls, a long run, and a shower later, I sat down to check my email. There was an email from DMU sitting in my inbox, offering me a spot in their class. It had been sent at 3:39pm–four minutes after my conversation with SOMA. WHAT!?!?!Two schools now?!? And 2 of my top schools?! I was on cloud nine. My wildest dreams had come true!!
And I can’t go a moment longer without a HUGE shout-out to my amazing family. This wouldn’t have happened without them. I’m really lucky that I’ve gotten to spend this year with them at home, even if it wasn’t what I had planned.
Yup, we love you, too, Shawn! Even if you didn’t answer your phone when I called you to tell you the good news! 
That night our neighbors JoAnn and Bridget came over to celebrate! (And have a glass of wine with me since my parents don’t drink) We sampled all the goodies I cooked (YUM!) and enjoyed the fancy wine from Sonoma that TSTD’s uncle had bought us on our road trip.
I was born on (Tuesday) the 13th. Thirteen was always my lucky number, but now there’s a whole new meaning for the number. Cheers to a GREAT Friday the 13th!
27 Feb
I was very blessed to have the choice of choosing where I get to go to med school. After several weeks of pros and cons lists, constant back and forth, and one major sleepless night, I finally decided today.
I’m going to SOMA!!
It’s on Facebook now, so I guess it’s official! It feels great to have made a decision. I’m really scared/nervous/ridiculously excited about the unknown, but I’m definitely looking forward to the adventures and challenges this new journey brings my way!
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