The Vein Of It All

This week begins week two of my fifteen week semester. Venous anatomy, physiology, hemodynamics and pathology will be the focus of the first half of this semester. Then it will be onto abdmoninal vasculature. Last semester was spent on the arteries and all their parameters. I learn the material in lecture and then apply the knowledge and learn the scanning skills in lab.

That's the idea anyhow. And the only way to become a better scanner is through practice, practice and more practice. I go into open lab on the weekends. I stay after class to practice. I practice in between classes. It's how I learn. Now I need to get into the habit of bringing all kinds of different "patients" into the lab. The more variety of body types I scan, the better. And if there is one thing I have learned, it's that everyone is different. Everyone has different anatomy, different vessel sizes and shapes. There is never a dull moment. This is both exciting, challenging and a bit overwhelming all at once. Especially when it comes to scanning veins, no two people are exactly the same. It's similar to figuring out a puzzle, or finding the missing link in an unsolved case. I feel like a vascular detective sometimes. Just where does that vein lead and what does it connect to? What approach have I not tried yet? It's up to me to figure it out. And I'm definitely up for the challenge!

Is that mickey mouse or just a few arteries?

Wordless Wednesday: Meeting The Dresden Dolls

One of the highlights of 2007 was getting to meet The Dresden Dolls. They were one of my favorite bands at the time, and I will never forget this moment. I am glad I have a picture to remind me of it.

Meatless Mondays

I have decided to jump on the Meatless Monday bandwagon. It's a great way to incorporate more veggies into my diet. It goes right along with clean eating and avoiding processed foods. I am always striving to eat more of a healthier, plant-based diet. After seeing the documentary Forks Over Knives, I was definitely inspired to eat less meat. Although the meat I do eat is all natural and grass fed. It did make me stop and think about how much meat I consume. There are many health and environmental benefits to this movement and I am excited to be a part of it!

Move over, meat. 

Wordless Wednesday: The Sun Is Out

It's cold outside and there is snow on the ground. But the sun is out, shining in all her glory. This makes me happy. 

Memorable Moments of 2011

Here's to the new year! Out with the old, and in with the new. I wanted to take a moment to reflect upon this past year. I thought it would be fun to do a post with pictures from the past year, highlighting some memorable events.

The Spring was started off right with a trip to NYC to visit my favorite cousin. We went to the NYC tattoo convention, hung out in the city, shopped at H&M, ate lobster mac n' cheese and had a blast of a week together.

This summer Nick and I celebrated our 10 years of being together and 7 years of marriage. A relationship is somewhat like a roller coaster. There's ups and downs. There's periods of waiting. There's twists, dips and spirals. But you always reach the summit at the end. And you come back for more. It's worth it.  Because why wouldn't you want to ride the roller coaster of life with your best friend?

Ahh, Portlandia. We had an amazing week vacation in the City of Roses. We drove out to the coast and Hood River. We visited old friends and caught up on life. Of course, we had to make two trips to Voodoo Doughnuts. Really had a hard time leaving this beautiful place. Also, if you have not seen the TV series, go watch it here. It's awesomely funny.

The fall brought lots of wonderful changes. I tried henna for the first time to dye my hair. I am never going back to those burning chemicals again.  I also made the switch to natural deodorant. In November, we moved into a house!! It was such a relief to move out of our crappy apartment. We did well in eliminating any artificial and processed foods from our diet. I did a 15 day juice fast and was amazed by the results.

In October, my sister came for a visit. We celebrated my grandparent's 40th anniversary and our favorite holiday, Halloween, together.  We had a glorious girls weekend/sister reunion. It was great to reconnect with family. And while my sister was in town....

we got matching sister tattoos!!!!! We had been talking about it for a while, and we finally did it. We wanted the tattoo to mean something to us and represent our sisterhood. We have an inside joke that goes, "I love you more than my luggage." And the spiral is an Irish symbol representing sister goddesses. We had also found out this year that we have some Irish blood on our mother's side and so it seemed appropriate.

And the winter brought my finishing up the first semester of ultrasound school. It was hard but worth every minute of the pressure. I am learning a lot and really liking it. We had a housewarming party. The house is finally starting to feel like our space, our home. And we rang in the new year with friends and champagne. Life is good.

Happy New Year!