The times they are a-changing...

... in more ways than one. I'm still alive. Fourth year tried to swallow me up and claim me as its own, but I'm rising above it. Take that fourth year. And our house just got robbed... but I'll get to that later. Take that robbers.

I've been living in a post-boards splendor for a month and a half now and it has been blissfully uneventful... other than the typical grind and headaches of rotations. I just came off of five weeks of internal medicine and am settling into 4 weeks of imaging.

Reality hit today when the NBVME released the NAVLE scores to the states that subscribe to the online portal system... 23 states get to check their scores online and unfortunately Illinois is behind the ball as always. We are sitting, patiently (or not so patiently) waiting... pacing... checking facebook/gmail/various websites for updates and trying to put the potentially life altering news out of our minds until we know for sure. If you do happen to fail, the world doesn't end. You get another chance in April and you still graduate and all is well in the world. I think the tricky part is getting back into the studying mindset for three months knowing that you didn't pass it the first time. Dear God, let me pass on the first try.

Since this year will bring a thousand changes in my life with graduation, moving, and starting my career, I thought it would be appropriate to start with some goals for my mental and physical health. I've been feeling a little depressed lately and I can't pinpoint the reason but recent events have made me uneasy and scared.

So, like I mentioned, our house got robbed. On Christmas night.

YES, CHRISTMAS.

Now, I imagine some of your jaws have dropped and you are thinking "what kind of horrible human being robs a home on Christmas". I agree with you whole heartedly. It takes a certain type of asshole to break into a bedroom window of two poor veterinary students and steal almost everything of significant worth. Thank God nothing of sentimental value was taken and that we and our animals are safe.

We had taken both cars out to Kyle's parents farm (about 30 minutes away) and my parents and brother had come down on Christmas Eve afternoon and we all got to celebrate that night and Christmas morning (after we got home from work at eleven... yes, we worked all through the Christmas holiday). My family left around 1 and Kyle and I had more Christmas with his family. We left around 10 for home in separate cars and I headed to a friend's house to take care of their dog before heading home and Kyle went straight home. I got back about 20 minutes later and as soon as I pulled up, Kyle got out of the truck with Ben and came to my window. The first thing he says is, "Don't freak out, but we got robbed."

So I did what anyone would do. I punched the steering wheel repeatedly and cursed/screamed at the neighborhood. When I had finished my tantrum, he asked for my phone to call 911, since he phone had broken a few days before and we hadn't replaced it yet. Apparently, Kyle had walked in the house with Ben and saw the TV was missing. Of course, he thought the cat had knocked it over because he does that crap all the time. Then he noticed the PS3 (that I bought for his birthday four weeks before), Wii, and laptop were missing. He immediately grabbed Ben and sat in the truck parked at the end of the street with the doors locked until I came home.

The police arrived in three separate cars and had to "clear the house" just like they do in the movies. Guns drawn, they went through each room with flashlights to make sure no one was still in the house. Then we were allowed to come inside. Apparently they had taken out our window air conditioning unit and broken in through the bedroom window. They flipped the mattress and searched the nightstand/file cabinet - of which they found nothing because everything of importance is in my office. They went in my office, which happened to be filled floor to ceiling with shower/wedding gifts in boxes - but only took a single plastic bag, I assume to carry all of our stuff out of the house with. THANK GOD.

They must have grabbed everything they could in the living room and headed out the backdoor (which they left open, luckily the cats didn't go on any adventures that night). My laptop was sitting on the kitchen table, but they missed that.

All in all, it was terrifying and a huge invasion in our privacy. To think that strangers purposefully broke into our home and took our belongings makes me feel incredibly vulnerable and exposed.

The following day, we ventured out to the stores and priced out new TVs. Even though we had purchased our 32" less than a couple of years ago, we were able to buy a 37" that day for about as much as we had originally spent and a new playstation 3 (our insurance should be covering nearly everything). Later in the week, I went up to visit my family and we went shopping at Costco where we discovered a floor model that was 47" and only 20 dollars more than we had spent on the new TV. It was much better quality, 120 Hz, 1080p, wireless capabilities, 3D capabilities, etc - I bought it on the spot and returned our other one with no problem (thank you Best Buy). Its pretty awesome - way different than our little 32" - but it wasn't fun shopping for new stuff knowing WHY we were doing it.

Anyway. Lock your doors and windows. Get a guard dog. Or an alarm system. Your choice.

...

So about those goals - I have a bunch. Here they are:

1. Graduate.

2. Run in at least 3 races in 2012. Already training for the Illinois marathon April 28. Doing the Shamrock Shuffle in March. Possibly the Chicago marathon in October.

3. Lose 10-15 pounds. I gained back all the weight I lost over the summer for the wedding... its time to get back on track.

3b. Calorie counter. Joined Livestrong.com and have been tracking my calorie intake... I'm not going to be a crazy person about it because I enjoy drinking and ice cream but to have some idea of the kind of nutrients I'm taking in on a daily basis. I just want to make sure I have enough protein, fiber, etc.

4. Learn to budget and manage my money. Joined Mint.com and have been good about keeping up with it and checking which keeps me from spending more money.

5. Read for fun. I'm on my third book of the year so far. It helps that I am on a very laid back rotation right now, but I forget how much I miss reading. I have loads of books that are waiting to be opened.

Sorry for the long catch up. I'll be back to updating more regularly :)