No longer MIA

I realize it's been about two weeks since I have written a little somethin' somethin', and I know some people have noticed and have been wondering about my life. Well, at least I hope some people have. :) It has been quite the two weeks though. And, there's a lot I could write about, but I'll give the very abbreviated version right now. I forget what I did the week after Father's Day...it was kind of a long time ago and I probably just studied since I left Thursday night to go home to California. So, Thursday night came, and I was CA bound. Friday morning, my mom treated me to a pedicure and manicure...thanks mom! Cari came with us (yay!) and got a manicure. :) The pedicure will come later...no matter what she says. One day, she will enjoy people touching her feet and legs. :) So, then we went home, packed an overnight bag and went to the rehearsal dinner for my brother's WEDDING! Such a great weekend to be with family and friends. Thanks to everyone who came--it was great to celebrate with you all! Saturday was the wedding--woke up at 4:45 am, went to Erin's house, did hair and make-up and got dressed, took the limo to the chapel, had the BEAUTIFUL ceremony, took a bunch of fun pictures (which I'm really excited to see), went to the reception, and had a bunch of fun and danced with my cousins and friends! The whole wedding was so great and such a testament of Nathan and Erin's love for one another and their love for God and their desire to serve God through their marriage. Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of it and to witness such a neat, God-glorifying celebration! Love you guys! Then, Sunday was the day after the wedding brunch which was another great time to spend time with and see family who had come from out of town and who I don't get to see too often. (Nathan and Erin had some out of town friends come too, but I don't really know them, so I stuck with my cousins!) Sunday night, mom and dad took Nathan, Erin, and I to SFO and while the newlyweds went off to the Cayman Islands, I headed back to Boston. As I was waiting to board the plane, an announcement was made that they had overbooked the flight and were looking for volunteers to go on a different flight. Had I been a volunteer, I would have flown to Chicago first class and landed in Boston at 9:43 am (instead of 7:03 am) plus I would have received a free roundtrip plane ticket to anywhere within the 48 contiguous states. If only I didn't have class at 9:00 Monday morning.

So, I landed at Boston Logan Monday morning after maybe three hours of sleep and was met so wonderfully by one of my friends and classmates, Kristina, who took me back to her place and we hung out for a bit before class. Monday afternoon I went and spent some time in lab studying for anatomy. I have accepted that my clothes are going to smell like the cadaver room and it will not come out, no matter how many times I wash them. That's the end of those clothes! Tuesday, we studied all day and then came home to a home-cooked meal made by Mahsa, Shirin's friend from Californai! It was so great--thanks so much Mahsa!!! (even though she will probably never read this) Mahsa was visiting for the week and we were able to do a few fun things with her. After class on Wednesday, it was raining (surprise, surprise) and we went to the USS Constitution for a bit and talked to a few sailors, including our new sailor friend John, before going to a restaurant right down the street from school called Tavern on the Water. Since it was raining super hard and we trampled through puddles (the deep ones not on purpose), we were super wet and decided to go buy raincoats. Of course, it didn't rain the whole rest of the week, but we were prepared had it rained! And, I'm sure the rain is not over, so I will get a good use out of that raincoat (now or next year). The rain and puddles were fun, until we got home and opened our backpacks and found a bunch of our stuff wet! I had to open up books and cards and all kinds of wet items to dry overnight. What a sad evening that was. I lost my calculator to the rain! It turns on, but the numbers don't appear correctly on the screen. I had that calculator since sixth grade and I had personalized it with stickers and all. Granted it wasn't a super calculator or anything, but there was definitely a lot of sentimental value to it. :( Bummer for me. After class on Thursday, some of our classmates went to a karaoke bar (Hong Kong) and one of the girls sang (not me). A few of us left the karaoke bar not too long after we got there and decided to go to the original (or inspirational, rather) Cheers bar! I bought a mug with "Cheers" on it and it was kind of fun! Now, I know where it is too so when people (you) come visit me, I can take you there if you want! Friday morning we went to Harvard Medical School for our practice practical to help us study for the test, which was really helpful. Then, I stayed there all day and studied with a couple other classmates and enjoyed another evening out at Boston Beer Works with some classmates. Lots of fun times, but well deserved after the amount of studying!

Well, this is definitely NOT the really abbreviated version as promised in the beginning, but there's just so much going on in Boston and surrounding areas! I'm definitely keeping busy with school and extra stuff, but it's all so great. More on the fourth of July and this week later. If you're lucky, I'll include some pictures as well! :)