Well, obviously a lot has gone on since the last time I made a post, especially since the reason I haven't been posting is that I'm super busy!
Well, I had a chair skills practical for my Theory and Methods lab. It didn't go so hot because I crashed under pressure. It's tough having someone watch your every move, but I need to get used to it. I will hopefully continue doing well on tests and learn from my mistakes to do well in the class :)
Tyler and I went to Asheville, NC over Halloween weekend to see his cousin get married with the Biltmore house as the back drop! It was such a beautiful outdoor wedding followed by a nice dinner and open bar reception. I finally got the opportunity to meet Tyler's dad's side of the family! They are certainly an interesting group, but I love them all! It's definitely different going from a very small family to tons of family!
This was also the same weekend as our cadaver lab, so I was certainly exhausted Monday after class. I had to be at school at 7:45am on Saturday to see this cadaver, go straight to the airport, and fly to Asheville for the ceremony at 4:30. Then some of Tyler's family members had planned a brunch and lunch at his grandparents' house on Sunday. Finally, we had to fly home. We didn't get in Sunday night until about 10:45pm. It was also surprising that we made it to the ceremony on time because we landed at 3:45pm and the Biltmore is at least 30 minutes away from the airport! We walked right up with all of stuff, dropped it off at a picnic table in the back and found the seats his dad saved for us!
Unfortunately, I didn't find the cadaver lab too exciting. I was hoping we could see more with the eye, but (not to gross anyone out), this cadaver was frozen, so not preserved the regular way. This made it very difficult to cut into anything related to the eye because all the pressure was gone.
It's going to be a rough few final weeks... I have 3 tests this coming up week, 2 tests and a quiz the week after that, Thanksgiving break then more tests, final lab practicals and final exams! Even though the work load is intense, I have certainly been enjoying learning about the eye ball! :)
In Theory and Methods lab, we are finally learning manifest refraction! I can find someone's prescription using the phoropter, which has been really fun- especially since it's the bread and butter of optometry! This skill (as opposed to chair skills) is something I am more familiar with from being a patient for so many years, and I find myself much more comfortable playing with the phoropter... and asking, "Which is better, one or two?"
This weekend was also pretty packed! This morning I helped with Stop Hunger Now, an organization that packages fortified rice and soy meals to be shipped to areas where hunger is a huge problem. In just under 3 hours, we packaged just over 40,000 meals! I was a boxer, which required a lot of running around picking up packaged meals that were ready to be packed into boxes for shipping.
Finally, we had the chili cook-off from noon-3. Teams competed and students/family members got to vote on the winning chili in 3 different categories: 1. best tasting 2. most unique 3. best spirit. There was a team named "Chili Carnival" who had deep fried chili ball, a balloon animal maker, and lots of spunk! I voted for them for most unique. Another team, "Team Chilizion" was my favorite in the category of taste. They had a white chicken chili that was amazing.. not to mention a very creative name for optometry students. A chilazion is a swelling caused by a clogging of an eyelid gland (Meibomian gland). It will get very large, but not cause the patient any pain. Anyway, they used the term to come up with a funny chili cook-off team name :)
Tyler is doing well! He has picked up some more hours at the gym and is working with the guys team a lot more. I know he's really enjoying it, and the employees and parents appreciate him there and like him a lot as a coach. The only thing that's hard for me/us, is that our schedules don't match at all! He works from like 4:30-8:30, and I usually don't get home from school until 5:30. He also helps on Saturdays with birthdays or team practices. Today was even harder because he was there for over 9 hours helping with a meet, but it was volunteer. He didn't know how long they would need him, or what they would want him to do, so he just said he could be there for whatever they needed. Well they used him for the whole day... 11-8. I didn't get home from stop hunger now and the chili cook-off until 1:45pm. Yet another day where we didn't get to see each other much at all!
However, we did have a nice date night last night. We went out to Applebee's for their 2 for $20 meals and got one drink each. It was nice to not have to cook and go out in public together. What was even better was that our waiter didn't charge us for the drinks! I think we'll have to come back when he's waiting tables again- he was a really fun server!
Well here I will share some pictures from the chili cook-off. Until next time.... Anatomy, optics and neuroanatomy are all calling my name!!
Wish you could actually see the little chilazion that they put on the eyeball, but it doesn't show up too well in this picture.
Gotta love the balloon man at the Chili Carnival
Hawaiian Munch- very unique chili- a sweet and spicy taste with a hint of pineapple.... a little too much spice for me though.
Pyros! Very tasty :) Thank goodness they had a mild version and a hot version, because my mouth was burning by the time I got to try theirs
Nothing goes better with chili than beer, especially when the keg is pumped by a security guard and the beer is poured by the SGA president! :)
