Warning: Read only in case of boredom

This post is probably of no interest to anyone but myself, but I think this is stuff I will have forgotten in a few more years, so I want to write it down now, while I still remember!

I have been on break for an entire WEEK now and already feel like a new person! The last test was a combined cardio/renal exam, and was the worst one I have come up against yet. Daniel and I went to the Med school Christmas party Friday night. It was dark, but we snapped a pic with the iphone. Daniel cleans up pretty well, doesn't he?

We finished up late last Friday (the 17th), but I was playing part of Britten's Ceremony of Carols on Sunday, so I had an early Saturday rehearsal and 2 services on Sunday

morning. In retrospect, I should have probably passed that one up. I was so exhausted that I definitely wasn't playing at my best.

We are getting ready to put our house on the market in a couple more weeks, so I spent Sunday- Thursday cleaning things out and packing. I have made a LOT of progress, and the house is almost finished being cleaned out and "staged". My gracious parents are letting us store things in their garage.

Thursday night my parents took the two of us, along with Kacie and Michael to Brave New Restaurant- what a treat! I had a Filet Mignon and Artichoke salad-WOW!

I gave myself a few days off of calorie controlling. And I bought a new scale. Groan... Moan...

Christmas Eve is our FAVORITE day of the year! On Friday afternoon, the 6 of us went bowling (one day I will break 100), then cooked and ate dinner (prime rib, sour cream and leek mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus), and then OPENED PRESENTS! Daniel and I must have been pretty good this year, because we got some AMAZING presents. It's funny how well my family knows me- everything they buy for me I like more than things I would pick out for myself! Then we watched Despicable Me and ate dessert. It was a perfect evening. I don't normally take picture of my Christmas presents, but I was SO excited when I got home that I couldn't help it. Besides, five years from now I can remember what I got for Christmas!

Note the matching PJs, house shoes, and overnight bag

On Christmas Day Daniel and I spent time together- Monkey bread for breakfast, then presents to each other. He bought me the most BEAUTIFUL Kitchen Aid stand mixer I have ever seen. It is the big kind with the lifting bowl- absolutely amazing. He spent WAY more than he should have on me. I bought him a Bamboo pad (tablet pad-thingie that goes with the mac), and a craftsman tool chest. Daniel's family came over on Christmas Day and for the first time I hosted Christmas dinner! It was a little stressful, but I managed to NOT burn anything, break my crystal or china, or set the house on fire. In my family, that is a successful meal. Anyway, we had a great time together. They all spent the night, so we had definitely had a houseful of company.

Mixer from the Husband of the Century

Still in shock over it. I keep wandering into the kitchen to stare at it....

Cooper got a bath. Pathetic, isn't he?

But he still smelled bad, so he went to Petsmart and got the full grooming treatment so his dog-cousins wouldn't tell him how bad he smelled. He doesn't stink now! But the groomer sent home a note that he tried to escape from the bath. Oops.

I made a Tollhouse chocolate chip pie AND thought to take a picture. I would love to take credit for the amazing-ness, but it was a just a really good recipe.

I actually made my 3 runs this week- but sadly, I don't think that 1o miles counterbalanced the 3 days of eating whatever I saw. When I say that, I am NOT exaggerating. My parents got me a fancy waist-pack that holds a water bottle for long runs, and Daniel got me a great book about training- so now I am READY for some serious long runs!

Saturday (12/18): 3.1 miles in 37 mins

Tuesday (12/21): 5 miles in 1.04 hrs ***

Thursday (12/23): 2 miles in 25 mins (Cooper went with me and slowed me down. He always has to go potty at least once a mile)

*** 5 miles! It wasn't easy, but I did it! And even kept a good pace!

Happy New Year!

Survival of the Fittest

I think it's no secret that I love food. I love cooking it, eating it, looking at it, smelling it, talking about it. I can tell you where to get the best __________ (fill in the blank) food in the area, along with a few runners-up.

For 18 months, this is how I have survived medical school. My study partners and I reward our 12+ hour study days with trips to the Indian buffet, Panera, cupcake store, or Starbucks. It gives us motivation- something to look forward to after memorizing drug lists, writing up H&Ps on our patients, and sitting through endless hours of lectures. And a full stomach- well that ALWAYS makes me happy.

Hi, I'm Katie, and I am obsessed with eating.

Does that mean I have an eating disorder?

The hips however... not making me so happy.

So no waiting for the New Year to set goals, no more "starting next Monday, I will" and no more "after the holidays are over" or "after this test". It started yesterday. Well, actually, it started 10 weeks ago when a friend downloaded the C25k app (Couch to 5K).

I faithfully stuck to the app- on 10/20 I started running- alternating 90 seconds of jogging with 2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

I thought I was going to die. It was NOT fun. The app slowly adds time.... by 11/11 I was alternating 5 minutes of walking with 3 minutes of running and not completely hating it. And by 11/28 I was running 25 minutes straight and enjoying it. It's a great app- I highly recommend it.

Last Saturday (12/4) I ran the first real 5K I have done since 2008. Not a great time- right around 36 minutes (earlier last week I ran it in a little under 33 minutes), but I ran against a head-wind most of the way and I wasn't in it for a good time- just for completion! And do you know what? I loved it. That's right. I love running. I don't have to say it and feel like a liar anymore. It is the BEST stress relief in the world. Other than eating. ACK! NO! EATING IS BAD- RUNNING IS GOOD!

It's a process

I have of course been cutting calories- via rules that I made for myself. 2 weeks and only minimal cheating. More on this later. I would post weight loss but well.... my scale is broken. Don't laugh. Seriously. It's not a fat joke, either.

THIS week I bumped things up. I downloaded the next app- bridge to 10k- which picks up where C25k leaves off and works up to a 10K in 6 weeks, but I haven't like it as much. So I have been going to mileage instead.

Wednesday (12/8): 4 miles in 48 minutes. Getting from 3 to 4 miles was SO HARD. I ran the first mile in 9 minutes and the other 3 suffered, I think. My knees also suffered... for 4 days.

Sunday (12/12): 4.5 miles in 56 minutes. Surprisingly easy! I was going to stop at 4, but felt pretty good so I kept going.

At this point, every run is my longest run! I am very slow, I know... but I have short legs. My eventual goal is nothing less than a 10 minute mile for long distances, but that is going to take a while.

Here are the challenges I have been facing and would LOVE accountability/advice:

-turning off the food addiction and "eating to live instead of living to eat". This is very difficult when there are Christmas cookies staring me in the face. VERY. VERY. DIFFICULT.

(^insert confession. I ate 2 Christmas cookies today. Please help me.)

-KNEE PAIN! Thinking about investing in a good pair of running tights. And becoming dependent on Aleve.

-keeping a steady pace. I am like a dumb horse. I can't keep a steady pace without a running partner, but I am slowly learning. It's a challenge, though.

-getting bored with music while I am running. Suggestions? I am tired of the Bee Gees now. So, so tired.

4 years and California

How is it December already? This has been a VERY sneaky year. It seems like it should be October, but well- it isn't. I still have 3 weeks of class, OSCEs (exams over my clinical skills), and a major Cardiovascular/Renal exam ahead, but I am definitely on the downhill slope of Year #2- and keeping the grades up!

A few weeks ago I went to San Diego for an AMA conference (American Medical Association). It was a great trip- and it was warm there. And it was a nice break. By break,

I mean that I didn't study for 4 days and then had to pay the price when I came back. :/

We flew into LA and spent the day at a a good friends house. And went to the beach! It was beautiful.... and warm. And we saw movie stars and all kinds of cool things and ate Thai food and Bobs Big Boy Burgers and seafood.

Santa Monica Pier.

I went to the San Diego Zoo... it was SO amazing! This is my favorite picture:

All

of the koalas were asleep in their own trees surrounded by snack food :)

I got very close to tigers...

And otters....

And hippos! Maybe a little too close to the hippos. They are kind of gross.

No pictures of the conference. They wouldn't be interesting, anyway.

After I came home, we celebrated 4 years together! I don't know how it is possible that we have been together that long, but we have. We didn't do anything super exciting- just went out to eat and then came home and watched and ENTIRE movie together for the first time in... well, I don't know how long it has been. We don't have a lot of free time- we occasionally watch an episode of a t.v. show, but rarely do we have 2 hours to watch a movie! It was very nice.

Lately, our typical evening consists of coming home from school, studying, cooking a quick dinner, then going back to the library to study until it closes (or we fall asleep).

I think they are about to name a table in the periodical room after us.

Walking home in the dark every evening, we tell ourselves that someday we will look back on these days of endless studying with fond memories. But that time could be far away.

We went to Texas for Thanksgiving. It was full of football watching and horseback riding. And eating, of course.

I have been running a lot- 3 or 4 times a week. I really enjoy running- it is such good stress relief. I am doing a 5K on Saturday that I think is going to be a ton of fun!

Next up: Christmas