Aaron's White Coat Ceremony

During the first weekend of August, my parents and I drove to New Orleans to take part in Aaron's White Coat Ceremony. The White Coat Ceremony is a tradition in which medical students are presented with their white coats prior to entering into the clinical portion of their training. The ritual is not only limited to medical students, but extends to many other professional health education programs as well. 

Aaron is currently in his 2nd year of medical school, and this was a nice way to meet some of his friends and hear a few teachers speak. The theme was focused on humanism in medicine, treating the patient as a whole, and not just treating their disease. I come from a nursing background, and it was great to hear that this philosophy is important to the clinicians and colleagues that are teaching my little brother. It is can be difficult to see the big picture when you are right in the middle of studying for an exam, preparing for a lecture, or practicing your assessment yet again, on another standardized patient. I often feel like I am still "connecting the dots" and I am most definitely learning on the job each and every day.

We are so proud of Aaron. He not only excels in academics, but has a heart for serving his community and his school. 

Of course, a trip to New Orleans would not be complete without an order of beignets and cafe au lait. I can't wait to visit again!

Indoor Picnic Date

A couple weeks ago, I decided to surprise Yung with an indoor picnic. It was pretty warm outside, so I thought something set up indoors would be better. I needed to spend most of my day charting, so I decided not to cook anything, but just purchase things that were easy to prepare. At first, I was going to buy traditional picnic food and maybe make some sandwiches with a couple of sides. Then I thought...this is an indoor picnic, so I can pretty much make whatever I want. I have access to an oven, microwave, and stove. The possibilities! I was not in a healthy mood that day, and decided to make a spread of bagel bites, pizza rolls, and dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. Three foods that I grew up eating, and probably have not eaten in 15 years. I also went to the Sprouts bulk section and picked up a few goodies like chocolate covered espresso beans and chocolate covered craisins. Then I wandered over to the dessert aisle and decided we needed to try their raspberry crumb cake (it was awesome) and also a toffee chocolate chip cookie. I did serve fresh grapes with our feast, so we got at least one serving of a single fruit :) It was a great at-home date night, and the perfect solution for when the weather is too hot, cold, or rainy to be outdoors.

Labor Day Weekend 2015

For Labor Day weekend, Yung and I decided to head down to Austin for a couple days. Here are a few "firsts" that happened on the trip:

-We climbed Enchanted Rock.

-Then we waited 30+ minutes for a snow cone.

-I had ice cream made with goat cheese, thyme, and honey. I couldn't tell whether I loved it or whether I wanted to throw up. Although I love goat cheese, I have decided that cheese does not belong in ice cream. Stick to the basics, people!

-We had 2 fried eggs on top of some delicious french fries.

-We visited the state capitol building.

Every year, I feel the need to visit my alma mater, get a new school tshirt, and check out the campus to see what is new. The whole hour (or two) of us walking in the hot sun was me pointing to a statue and saying "that wasn't there before" and "that building didn't used to be there" and "look at that fountain! That's new!" Poor Yung :) But seriously-so much changes every time I return to campus. 

On our 2nd day in Austin, we decide to drive to Llano County and climb Enchanted Rock. We hiked up to the summit, and did not have time (or maybe we didn't have the energy...) to explore any of the other trails. I was surprised by the amount of people that were there on such a hot day. 

Can you see the fried eggs on top of the fries? We were instant fans.

Our capitol visit was spur of the moment, but it turned out to be a very nice walk around the park surrounding the building. 

*All photos courtesy of @yungtsai.*

Here's a list of restaurants we hit, places we visited, and where we stayed:

Food:
Common Grounds
George's
Katie's Custard
Guero's Taco Bar
Taco Shack
Silo on 7th
Lick
Taco Deli
Houndstooth Coffee

Sites we saw:
Czech stop in West-Does it count when we just looked at the food, instead of waiting in the line that wrapped around the bakery to order a kolache?
Baylor University
Magnolia-Does it count that we only saw the outside? The line to get in circled around the parking lot.
Uncommon Objects
South Congress Ave
6th Street-We walked all the way from South Congress to 6th street. It was interesting to see the neighborhoods change from hipster to upscale to crazy.
Enchanted Rock
Hamilton Pool-I know it doesn't count when we were not allowed into the park because it was full.

Where we stayed:
Aloft Hotel

All in all, Austin treated us very well. We hit lines almost everywhere we went, and the holiday traffic was a beating, but it was a great way to kick off the fall season <3 I was even able to finish an entire book, so it was definitely a win-win weekend for me.

Hey, September

September is here and I can hardly stand it. I saw a sign for pumpkin spice cake today, and I felt simultaneously excited and nostalgic. I want time to slow down, but then again, there is so much to look forward to. August turned into a very busy month at work which turned into the month passing by very quickly. In fact, I am currently working on one of a million charts I have to finish. I am thankful to be a nurse practitioner, but I do I miss the ability to leave my work at work. Speaking of which-it is almost my 1 year anniversary at my "new job" in this new role. I don't even know how to process this :)  I have several posts to catch up on, and many pictures to share, so stay tuned for new posts in the coming weeks. I will leave you with sweet Professor and Ruby. They are sitting so still and trying not to beg for more bacon. Happy September!!