Wanderlust

Costa Rican vacation - booked! So excited to be going to Costa Rica for a week with my husband, two sisters, and my brother-in-law. We booked a villa (or, rather, a house) on the Pacific side of the country near a little town called Dominical.

So excited to see the rainforests and lounge on the beach for a little while this coming December!

I'm not sure what it is. I don't know why I love to travel so much. But I really, truly do. It is one of my most favorite things ever. I love going to new places, seeing new things, experiencing new cultures, eating new food, etc... And things like a lack of running water or showers do not really do much to deter me.

Biking through the San Gabriel Mountains, R4WH 2009 - April 2009

Biking through the Continental Divide, May 2009

Spanish Steps, Rome, Italy June 2001

Denver, Colorado, May 2007

When I talk to people who do not like to travel as much as I do, or who don't like to travel at all, it's difficult for me to even wrap my brain around. Charlie's brother and sister-in-law think we're C-R-A-Z-Y for travelling as much as we do. I remember talking to Kelly about it once. We were talking about where Charlie and I wanted to go next, and I mentioned that we have a list of places we'd like to go - it changes all the time, but we do keep a list. She said, "I don't even think there are enough places I want to go to even keep a list. I'm happy right here."

Budapest, Hungary, July 2001

Kutna Hora, Czech Republic, July 2001

Amsterdam, Netherlands, Summer, 2001

London, England, Summer, 2001

Kruger National Park, South Africa, February 2009

It made me think a little bit. Am I not happy right here? Maybe I travel because I don't like what I have at home. I thought about this for a long while before coming to the conclusion that I loved to travel because I loved to travel. Not because I didn't like being at home. I really do like being at home. I love spending my weekends working on my house, gardening, or just lying on the cough in my PJs until 3:00pm. I love Columbus, and I love that even after 6 years there are still places to see and things to do that I have not done yet.

Paris, France, Summer 2001

Travel is something that I have really liked doing for my entire adult life, I think. I remember when my college roommate told me that she had absolutely no desire to go to Europe, ever. "It's dirty and old" is what she told me. DIRTY AND OLD??? Do you think NYC is CLEAN?! And it is not OLD it is HISTORIC! I just stared at her in disbelief. I probably said something snotty too, I don't remember, but I was sort of like that at 19 years old.

Lucerne, Switzerland, Summer 2001

Rio de Janiero, Brazil, June 2009

Travel is something that I have always loved and I really think I will always love. Charlie and I talk not infrequently about the places we want to go and see and experience. That is our #1 goal for retirement - to have enough money to travel to all these places we will not be able to travel to because of our jobs etc... It is the one thing that gives me pause about having kids. I feel like when we have kids my travelling will be over. I try not to think about it that way, though. When we have kids we will still travel. Just instead of trans-Atlantic flights with a two or three year old, we will go to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Maine, Hilton Head, Florida, or Colorado. I always say I'm saving up all of those places for when I have kids, because it will be easier to go to Montana than Egypt when I've got a kid or two in tow.

Chichen Itza, Mexico, 2007

Cape Town, South Africa, February 2009

Cape Town, South Africa, February 2009

Belize, March 2010

Inca Trail, June 2011

For now, I will continue to plan trips. Until life decides to change things up on me. Life is a journey, I plan on enjoying the ride:)

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware."

- Martin Buber

Preach it, Zach...

This is Zach. He has two moms.

For 19 this young man is incredibly well spoken, and has obviously given this issue some thought. Tears welled up in my eyes as I listened to him speak.

I just hope for a day when we truly can all be judged not by the color of our skin, our sexual orientation, or our religious beliefs (or lack thereof), but rather by the content of our character.

Resolutions

It's the start of a new academic year for me, and with it come some much needed resolutions for living my life.

I am a firm believer in finding balance in life, and in making your own happiness. If you are unhappy, it is really not anyone's fault but you own. So often I find my self complaining about work, about how much I work, and about how far I feel like I still have to go. Some days I really feel like I was trapped into this whole medicine thing. Like by the time I had figured out what it was all about and how much of myself they would demand, I was too far invested (financially and personally) to turn back. Might I have been happy and content doing something else with my life? Perhaps. But I haven't the slightest idea what that would be. And honestly, I think medicine is a good fit for me. As Dr. Weber would say, "Things generally tend to turn out like they're supposed to". AND, let's be honest with ourselves, my life is not that bad. I see people every day who have it worse than me. I could be blind, or have a terminal illness, or be in chronic pain. All of those would be worse. I have everything that I could ever need or want. And I need to remind myself of that.

So, in an effort to find more balance in my life (because right now it is not there) I have made the following resolutions for this academic year:

Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night

I often find myself getting absorbed in things late in the evening, then I go to bed at midnight and have to get up at 5:30AM. That is just not good for a person, and it is not good for my stress level.

Start RUNNING

I really slacked off on this towards the end of last year. For a number of reasons. But now that my shin is healing and I have more time, I need to make it a priority. Because if I run 3-4 times a week, I feel better every day.

Don't eat out so much

I don't like cooking for myself, so I found myself eating out A LOT during the week last year. Then Charlie and I would go out on the weekend because we wanted to. I don't want to eat out more than once a week, except on the rare occasion. Food is better when it's made at home,and it's good for me to learn to cook for myself.

READ! PRACTICE!

Now that I'm a big, bad second year resident, I really need to start devoting at least an hour per day and a few extra on the weekends to reading. I only have two more years to learn all that I can before I am taking care of patient's eyes on my own. On that same note I need to make myself go to the surgical skills lab at least once per week to get ready to do cataract surgery for real this year.

Yoga

Now that more of my evenings are free, I'd like to go to yoga a few times per month. I think that it is good for me as a sort of moving meditation, and it is good for my overall fitness and flexibility. It's something I would like to take forward with me in life, but I really need to make it a habit now, otherwise it will fall to the wayside when things get busy again.

Relax

I really do a very terrible job at this. I feel like I need to be busy all the time. Like I can't just take a few days and do nothing. Whenever I do nothing for a day I feel guilty about it. I think there is a balance that could be struck here. Being a bit easier on myself in all aspects of life also falls into this category I think:)

Live Simply

This is one that I constantly struggle with, and will probably continue to struggle with as I go forward in life. I really need to continue to evaluate purchases and decisions that I make and really think about whether or not it is something that I need at this time. Obviously we all get things that we don't need but I really feel that if we are going to continue as a viable species on this planet we need to stop using up more than our share of the resources. That means that I do not need another skirt. I do need to ride my bike to work. I don't need to turn the a/c on all summer long. I think a lot of my resolutions above also fall into this category.

So, just a few things that I can work towards to make my life more balanced. Because sometimes it feels like I don't do anything well because I'm too overwhelmed to do anything. That is not really very productive either.

Wisconsin

Even though I'm on call this weekend, this is the first moment I've had since we got home from our Independence Day trip to Door County to sit down and write about it. 

We left on Friday morning and flew into Green Bay, WI. We got to Door County around mid afternoon and checked into our bed and breakfast, the incredibly adorable French Country Inn in Ephraim, WI. 

We had such a good weekend with my entire family. We went to the beach...

The water was SO COLD!

Playing frisbee even though they can't feel their legs.

We went hiking and enjoyed Lake Michigan...

We saw goats living on a roof...

Went to a diner for burgers, fries, and milkshakes...

Watched the sun go down, and the stuck around for some fire works...

We sat in the front yard and enjoyed the nice patio at our B&B...

And we went to a fish boil. The pyrotechnics were a nice touch, and the meal was to die for, topped off with cherry pie...

our veggies cooking first...

the fish!

And the fun stuff - pouring kerosene right on the fire. Maybe not the safest idea...

It was an awesome weekend full of family, sun, independent theater, shopping, food, beer, and cheese. Just like any good weekend in Wisconsin should be. I was sad to be home, but so thankful to be able to go...