February 1-7

This week was the full of last minute preparations for the VOSH trip to Mexico. In addition to packing for myself, I had many things to do for the group. As President, I worked with the other council members to plan and lead an informational meeting Tuesday night. We also sorted and divided supplies that we would need for the mission. There were almost 3,000 pairs of glasses, and 60 gallon ziploc bags full of drops and medications that we would need to pack in our luggage to take to the clinic in Mexico. I also found a chiropractor in Bloomington that I liked to help me out with some neck stiffness I had been having trouble with. Meanwhile, Nick made plans with friends to host a Superbowl party at our house while I was gone. Mid-week Nick and I took a break to cuddle with our pups on the couch and watch a movie. As the trip drew closer, we realized that the weather would be less than ideal on Saturday when I was scheduled to fly out of Indianapolis. I made the decision to get a hotel room Friday night along with fellow VOSH members Candice Olund and Kathryn Mar Jip. Nick and Candice’s boyfriend Thai drove us to the hotel Friday night, and the roads were already starting to become snow-covered and slick. Saturday morning my flight left at 6:20 am and I was glad we hadn’t drove to the airport that morning because windy conditions and 4-6 inches of snow made for poor road conditions. I managed to make it to all of my flight connections, despite having a schedule through Chicago and Dallas before landing in Leon, Mexico. Saturday afternoon we set up the clinic in Silao and then checked into our hotel in Guanajuato and went out for dinner. Sunday morning was the start of our five day campaign that would have us seeing 2,800 patients and providing glasses to nearly all of them. We did manage to see Sunday’s patients quickly enough to head to downtown Guanajuato and watch the Superbowl at a bar in Spanish. Unfortunately the Colts lost to the Saints, but I had a good time in Mexico, and Nick’s Superbowl party at our house in Bloomington was a big success with a good group of friends and lots of food.

January 25-31

This week was pretty uneventful. I started Monday off by doing our laundry. Since we do not have our own washer and dryer, laundry is always a big pain. I usually procrastinate until we have at least 6-8 loads, and then I have to haul it all up to the community laundry facility across the parking lot. It is $1.25 per load to wash and another $1.25 to dry. Then I have to fold it and haul it all back to our townhouse. The dogs love to lay on the back of the couch in the window and watch me make the trek back and forth over and over...Monday was also the start of a few snowy days. We actually got several inches of snow by Tuesday morning. Tuesday was my usual day in clinic, and Tuesday night I went to a free dinner sponsored by one of the national optical chains in an attempt to get us interested in working commercial optometry. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were also pretty basic days, and I filled my time not in class with preparations for the upcoming VOSH trip to Mexico. Friday afternoon I did manage to squeeze in some time for fun with Josh and Lezlie Jones. We ate lunch at Panera and then we saw the movie, “Precious.” It received many awards, and I can see why because it was a very emotional movie. Friday night Nick and I continued the fun and went bowling with Candice Olund, Thai Yue, Josh & Lezlie Jones. It was cosmic bowling and we had a great time. Saturday and Sunday were Nick’s scheduled weekend days to work at Woodbridge, and I covered a clinic shift for a friend on Saturday morning. Saturday and Sunday nights were pretty lazy days for us, we didn’t really venture out much, but we got caught up on cleaning, shows on the DVR, and a bit of scrapbooking and homework for me, and made some soup and grilled cheese for dinner.

January 18-24

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and in honor of the holiday, VOSH

(Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity) and the Salvation Army partnered to sponsor MLK Donate an Eye Exam event. The event was held at the west side optometry clinic (CECC) and it was staffed by volunteer students and doctors from the optometry school. We were able to provide 52 people with free eye exams and glasses, and lunch was donated by McAlister’s. Tuesday was the start of my regular school week, but Nick enjoyed another day off since he had worked Sunday. Tuesday night we went to Bucceto’s for a fundraiser dinner to benefit VOSH. Wednesday was our friend, Sylvia Mishoulam’s birthday, so after a day of class and work, Nick and I went to O’Charley’s for dinner to celebrate. There was a big group there for Sylvia’s birthday - about 24 altogether! Thursday Nick got a clean bill of health from the dentist, and I had a long day of classes that went until 9 pm. Friday after my morning classes I met Nick at Steak n’ Shake for lunch. Friday night we went to Josh and Lezlie Jones’ apartment for dinner with Candice Olund and Thai Yue. It seemed like it had been a long time since we had hung out together and that’s exactly what we did. We ate roast, drank some wine, watched a few old home movies, and caught up on each other’s lives. Saturday morning Nick and I slept in and then ran errands. We decided that Steak n’ Shake was so good the day before that we went back again for lunch! I ended up getting a new pair of comfy tennis shoes - Reebok EasyTones. Then we decided to clean up our apartment and watched the movie, “The Perfect Getaway.” Sunday I volunteered to sit as a patient for a 2nd year optometry student to practice, and then I had to supervise practice time for 1st year clinical science lab. Nick invited our friend, Adam Cmejla over to watch the Colts football game and grill brats while I was gone.

January 11-17

Monday of this week was the last time I will ever have a “first day of classes,” which was really exciting for me. My schedule is pretty busy this year, and the one I’ve included here doesn’t even have any meetings or other random things that come up throughout the week. This semester I am working at the west side optometry clinic (CECC), which is a change from working at the on-campus clinic (AECC) I worked at last semester. AECC is much newer, but the patients at CECC are much more interesting. In addition to my regular class and clinic schedule, we also had a VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity) meeting on Tuesday night. I am president of the organization and we are busy preparing for our upcoming trip to Guanajuato, Mexico in February. Wednesday night I had a group meeting, but I was fortunate to get out of class early Thursday night so I could spend a little time with Nick Thursday evening. Friday night Nick and I went to La Torre mexican restaurant and then bowling at Classic Lanes to celebrate Nick’s co-worker Megan’s birthday. (Nick is pictured with her youngest son, Evan). Amanda and Jordan joined us for bowling and Nick had the high score of 221 on our lane (my 189 didn’t have a chance)! Saturday and Sunday I took advantage of a relaxing weekend, spending the majority of my time in my “usual spot” studying for Boards. Nick relaxed with me on Saturday, and we ended the night with some frozen yogurt and ice cream from Jiffy Treet. Nick had to work Sunday afternoon, but he will appreciate having an extra day off next week in exchange. Sunday afternoon it got up to 45 degrees, so I took advantage and took the dogs for a walk. After Nick got off work, his friends Dan and Dave came over and we grilled burgers and brats and watched the Cowboys football game. Unfortunately, they are out of the playoffs after getting beat by the Vikings.

January 4-10

This week was overall pretty relaxing. It was the last week of my break before starting Spring semester classes. Monday and Tuesday were the last two days of my KMK Boards Review class. After class was over on Tuesday, I celebrated by going to the mall with my good friend Lezlie Jones. We took advantage of a sale at our favorite store, The Limited, and got some new clothes. Tuesday night the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Orange Bowl 24-14. Nick’s friends Dan and Dave came over to watch the game and I made tacos for dinner. Wednesday I had a hair appointment at Hair International with my favorite stylist, Melissa. I decided to take the leap and dye my hair darker! I love it so much that I think I will go even darker next time. Wednesday night I went to the Weight Watchers meeting - time to start back up eating healthier after the holidays! Thursday morning we woke up to a couple inches of snow and it continued to snow all day. The weather really wasn’t that bad by Iowa standards, but lots of schools were closed and the roads weren’t great. I managed to make it across town to get an allergy shot and then meet Nick for lunch at the mall. The dogs loved playing outside in the snow - they like to eat it and roll around and make snow angels. Friday through Sunday I doggy-sat for an optometry classmate, Tim Hobbs and his wife Jessica. They have a Great Dane, Stryder; Australian Cattle Dog, Rory; and a Shiba Inu, Chula. Luckily, the dogs stayed at their house and I just had to go over and let them out and feed them throughout the day. Five dogs in our townhouse would have been a bit overwhelming! I took advantage of my last few days of freedom over the weekend to clean, do laundry, run errands and go grocery shopping at Kroger. Friday night we watched the computer animated movie, “9.” Nick had to work the weekend, but we took advantage of our time together in the evenings. Saturday night Dan and Dave came over again, this time to watch the Dallas Cowboys win in the wild card playoff game. Sunday night Nick and I went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then saw the movie, “Avatar” in the theater. Overall it was a productive and fun week before classes start back up.

January 1-3

After welcoming in the New Year with a get-together at our townhouse with food, friends, and Wii fun, Nick and I headed to bed around 2 am on the 1st. We spent the day 1st relaxing, I scrapped and Nick watched football. For dinner we went ate pork roast made by Josh & Lezlie Jones. We ended the night with the movie, “500 Days of Summer.” On the 2nd, I started my KMK Optometry Boards Review class which will run from January 2-5 at the optometry school. The days were long (8 hours of lecture), but I learned a lot and feel more prepared to study for boards (which will be March 16 & 17). During our hour-long lunch break we went to two of my favorite Bloomington restaurants. Saturday we went to Buffa Louie’s, a restaurant just off Kirkwood famous for wings and chicken sandwiches. Sunday we had Mother Bear’s pizza, a IU campus favorite on 3rd street.

Grandma's Ring

Grandma Callaway left Lezlie and I the ring she wore. We always thought it was her wedding diamonds reset into another ring. Because it is a little hard to share a ring, I took the larger diamond out of the ring and Lezlie kept the ring and the smaller diamond. She is planning to have another stone set in the place of the larger diamond, but hasn't made up her mind what she wants to do yet. I already had a ring that I wore with a diamond and two peridots (August birthstone) from my Mom's grandma. They were originally in a broach and we passed down and reset into a ring. I decided that since Grandma Callaway's birthday was also in August, I wanted to combine the stones into one ring so I could always wear Grandma's diamond as well. One interesting fact we discovered when we had the diamond removed from Grandma's ring is that the stone is much older than we thought. The jeweler estimated it to be mid 1800's because of it's European style cut. Dad asked various family members, but no one seems to know the story behind the diamond. I took some pictures of Grandma's ring as it originally was, and my new ring with Grandma's diamond combined with the diamond from my great grandma and peridot stones.