There Are No Shortcuts To Anything Worthwhile

My mom has always been my motivator. She will read me inspiring quotes or give me a little placard to put on my night stand. Well, for Christmas, she gave me a little sign to hang up that says "There are no shortcuts to anything worthwhile." Honestly, I have come to hate that sign! Some nights, as I was going to get ready for bed, dead tired from 12+ hours of studying, I would walk by that sign and think, "I really hate that sign. If my mom had not given it to me, I may have been tempted to throw it onto a very busy street and watch it get crushed." Fortunately, I have not seen that sign in a month-and-a-half. And, even though I have come to hate the sign, my mom is still my greatest motivator. My study-budy Lucas took his boards this last Wednesday, and I was at a loss as to how I was going to continue being motivated. Well, my mom offered to study with me. She quizzes me on the information I mark. It has actually been really effective. She even acts interested when I tell her random facts. What a great mom!

On another note, as I sit here trying to waste a few minutes before getting back into studying, I have been contemplating the vast range of emotions I have felt over the past month-a-and-half. I think I have diagnosed my current state as borderline personality. Poor Jon is never sure what to expect from me. I think he may almost wince when he picks me up from the library wondering if I am going to give him a big kiss and tell him I had a great day or start to bawl and say that I am not smart enough for this test and question my validity as a med student.

Soon, very soon, this will be over! I have less than four more days of studying, and then I am done! Hooray! And, you know, maybe all of this studying really be worth it!

Top 10 Things I Miss Salt Lake

I just took a grueling 4 hour practice test and so now I have decided to take a break to write about what I am missing about Salt Lake while I am here in Coeur d'Alene. So, here it goes:

10. Trax. I love riding Trax. Not only is it relaxing to not have to worry about driving home (and possibly hitting things), but you also meet many interesting people.

9. A place to study that never closes. Yes, I can access the med school at any hour, but the libraries here are closed by 8 on weekdays and 6 on weekends. On second thought, maybe the fact that the libraries close is a good thing. If I were down in Salt Lake right now, I may have chosen to simply live at the med school. There is a shower in one of the bathrooms, a fridge that I could steal other people's food out of, and couches in a lounge only accessible to med students...but, a library that closes is a very good thing.

8. Friends. Jon and I have made lots of good friends in Salt Lake, and we miss hanging out with them. However, we are excited because one of them is planning to make a trip up here to see us!

7. The Gateway. I don't know if those who read this blog have spent time at the Gateway mall, but I love it! Our apartment is directly over the mall, so I have walked home many days from Trax through the Gateway. As I walk home in sweats many days, I see the beautiful, well-dressed, teeny tiny people shopping at the Gateway. One word to sum it up: Inspiring!

6. Homeless people...yeah right. I don't miss them at all. In fact, I am so excited about our new apartment because we will no longer be one block away from the homeless shelter! For those of you who haven't been to Coeur d'Alene, we don't really have a lot of homeless people. In fact, just as an interesting side note, when I was in the 5th grade I read a book by Rush Limbaugh and it mentioned "bag ladies" in it. That was the first time I learned about homeless people. I was so fascinated by them that I wanted to dress up as one for Halloween. My mom wouldn't let me. I don't know why.

5. Being able to walk everywhere. I know this will change once we move, but I love the fact that where we live at the Gateway, we can walk to so many of our favorite places. We walk to dinner, to Temple Square, to our friends' apartments (okay, so they are in the same building), and to the movie theater. It's a lot of fun.

4.3.2.1. I am running out of ideas, so if you have any to add, let me know. But the thing I miss the most that I am absolutely craving is CAFE RIO! I know, to you it may JUST be Cafe Rio, but to me, it's Cafe Rio...absolutely delicious! Well, that's all I have for now. I hope you are all doing well!

Toxic Farts!

Yesterday, as Jon and I were walking around the Art Walk in downtown Coeur d'Alene (a very fun evening together!), we walked by one particular place where there were several smokers. These smokers were not clumped together; instead, they were spaced about five or six feet apart from each other. It would have been one thing for them all to be clumped together so I only had to hold my breath for one big second-hand smoking cloud, but with several in a row spaced out like that, I had to breath in the nasty clouds of poison. As we walked away I preceded to discuss with Jon how smoking is like toxic farts, and he said I should blog about it. So, here goes...No one likes people to fart around them. If you feel the need to fart, you usually try to be discrete about it and even walk away from the area where everyone is so they don't have to deal with the after effects of the ever so stinky bodily function. And, if you knew that your farts were so toxic that they were sending out poisonous chemicals that could harm others, I would hope you would definitely move to a place where those toxic chemicals would not affect those around you. This is why I think that smokers should think about themselves as putting out toxic farts...no one wants to be around that! However, from the looks of this poster, they think of it exactly opposite of my point-of-view. I guess we are all entitled to our opinions...but I still think I'm right!