Hippocratic Oats

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

December 7, 2009 at 1:29 am Leave a comment

No more studying tonight!  I’m cutting myself off!  After several hours of learning about hemodynamics, I had to put the books away and do something completely unrelated to school.  I never thought I would say this, but I think I actually may miss Anatomy.  We had our final exam in Anatomy the day before Thanksgiving, and moved on to Physiology.  I’m a big fan of not having to change into smelly old scrubs everyday, but this new unit is pretty lecture heavy.  Including our medical literature class and bioethics seminar, we’re at about 20 lectures per week.  So much material to review….

On a happier note, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas  in Syracuse, and I’m pretty excited!  The holidays are definitely my favorite time of year.  They put decorations up all over campus, and Syracuse actually does a nice job decorating the parks and downtown area.  Here’s a few shots from this past week:

Quad decorated for Christmas!  The pictures a little blurry (I think my iphone camera lens needs some cleaning) and it doesn’t look all that exciting, but in person it was a very pleasant surprise.

Even Wegman’s got in on the holiday decorations.

My beverages are festive too! I picked this up at Starbucks (obviously), and I can’t even tell you how many compliments I’ve gotten.

Adorable cookie Erica picked up before class one morning.

Another VERY pleasant surprise this past week involved a text from Kelly.  I got a message from her Thursday afternoon saying that she was going to be in town doing some shopping with her boyfriend, and she wanted to do dinner.  Um, yes!  I adore Kelly, and even though I just got to see her over Thanksgiving, I was psyched to see her again.  Jason was also VERY excited for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Now, this was my first time at TR,  and I was exactly sure what I was getting myself into.  I’m not much of a meat person.  I haven’t had beef since I was 16 and I only it pork on special occasions.  It actually turned out to be everything I thought it would be and more!  Lot’s of Nascar, country music, southern paraphernalia and giant cuts of meat waiting for you as you walked in the door.  Apparently, Texas is a lot like Fonda.  I tried to keep it healthy, but as one might expect from a place that has the word Texas in it’s name, it was rather difficult.  The green beans I ordered came swimming in butter and bacon, and the sweet potato was served with butter and brown sugar.  Oh well, when in Texas, do as th Texans!

Kelly and Jason looking a little surprised.  I’m so sneaky with my iphone camera

In other news, besides my little trip to TR, I’ve been trying to eat little healthier.  Tomorrow I start my official training for the half marathon, and this past week I tried to make a big change in how I’ve been eating. My thought process is if I’m going to do this race (and do it well!) I need to cut out  a lot of the junk I’ve been eating since starting school.  School takes up so much time, and it’s just easier to grab something in the cafeteria than plan ahead and bring lunch and dinner to school.  Unfortunately, the cafeteria doesn’t always serve the healthiest food.  I made a big effort this past week to bring my lunch everyday, and I tried to make it home for dinner as much as possible.  I think I did a pretty good job:)

Started my mornings off with an amazing grass shake. I forgot how good they made me feel!

Typical contents of my classy polka dot lunch bag.

I’ve been so much better about drinking a ton of water.  Since transitioning back into the student lifestyle, my diet coke intake has probably tripled.  Hello, my name is Sarah and I am addicted to diet soda! But I’m proud to say I’m down to a glass a day.  Also, I LOVE my camelbak.  Thank you Michele for turning me on to its awesomeness.

One thing that I can proudly admit I’m addicted to is Woodstock Farms cashew butter.  After leaving behind whole foods and Trader Joes, I’ve been trying to make the best of it with what Wegman’s has to offer.  Usually the selection is awesome, but they do not carry Barney Butter:(  After speaking with the health food department manager about my favorite nut butter, she actually let me taste test several different types of nut butters.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that cashew butter is DELICIOUS.  It’s so creamy and rich, and I didn’t think I would ever say this, but I might actually like it better than almond butter.

I know I was just back in Fonda for Thanksgiving, but I made the trip back home again this weekend to hang out with Merilee and help my mom put up Christmas decorations.  I had a ton of studying to do, so I don’t know how much help I was.  I did get to come out of my room every once and a while and see my house get transformed into a winter wonder land.  As all my friends know, my mom goes a little crazy with the decorations during the holidays, and I LOVE it!  I drove home Saturday morning a little later than expected.  Let’s just say I had a little more wine than I was planning on at Tara’s end of week get together, and sleeping in sounded like an excellent idea   Luckily, I sill managed to beat the snow.

This is where I spent Saturday night and most of Sunday.  The weekend was actually quite productive, and I’m entirely caught up on MCP!  Unfortunately, I sill have a ton of work to do for physio…

Best part about going home has to be having my parents cook for me.  Mom made cranberry nut bread…

…and Dad made a super tasty brunch Sunday morning.  Veggie omelette and home fries!

Mmm potatoes!

One more exciting thing before I head to bed.  I just want to congratulate my friend Kyle Dolan on his crossword success this past weekend.  Kyle has become quite the crossword enthusiast, and he actually had one of his puzzles published in the LA times.  Yay Kyle, and if you’re interested in trying some of Kyle’s puzzles click here!

Yay Kyle!

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