Thank You & My Closet

Thank you all for that wonderful, lovely support

on here, on facebook, and in person!

I'm so excited about letting dreams become expansive

and seeing where they go!

(I promise that thank you and my closet will be connected by the end of this post.)

You see,

I spent the weekend purging my room,

getting rid of things

I don't need or use.

In order to prepare for these adventures.

And in doing so, reorganized my closet

and rediscovered some gems hidden in the back.

Which inspired me to actually create some outfits!

I've been rotating some pretty staid work outfits for the last year or so,

and need to spice it up.

So,

I will be doing 'Krista's Closet' posts.

(Anatomy of an Outfit is sadly already used by another wonderful blogger)

I don't do high fashion.

I don't ever look polished.

I'm not super trendy,

but I will try to keep it entertaining!

I'll also be posting some items on Etsy,

to raise funds for said adventures.

I call this: Vermont business-casual.

 Jeans: Lucky brand

Shirt: Found on the side of the road in Barre, VT

Jacket: J.Crew Outlet

Hat: Carhartt from Salvation Army

Mug: Anthropologie

 

Year off (for reals!)

 

 

Remember THIS post?

About my year off?

Well, after seeing the thinly veiled panic in my friends' and family's eyes

when I told them I was taking a year off

in medical school,

I decided to finish medical school.

And THEN take a year off!

Medical school has been hard for me.

I know, I thought medical school was supposed to be easy too!

Such a shock!

But seriously, it's been hard beyond the endless hours of studying

and the 24-hour shifts.

It's been hard to find my place

in this system.

 Which makes me question,

well,

my place in this system.

With that Saturn energy pumping,

I decided that I really needed to take a step back.

My life has been very wonderfully planned,

from high school

to college

to a stint in NYC 

to traveling before medical school,

(but really always knowing I was going to medical school)

to 4 years of torture medical school.

The next logical step is residency.

I had one foot hovering over that next step on the path,

with my letters of recommendation

and a draft of my personal statement

for residency applications,

when I decided not to apply.

I know this isn't a huge deal.

The world is wide.
And there are many lives to lead.

But sometimes your world gets so small,

you only see that next step,

and to not take it feels overwhelming.

Plus it is unimaginably awkward to tell

type A physicians who are grading you,

that you are taking a "year off"

and that 

you have no idea what you're doing with it.

Lots of blank stares with that one, man.

I've always been a big fan of the whole

"follow your heart"

ideal.

But I want to clear the air...

That is not always an easy decision!

Lovely little things like doubt/fear/guilt sneak in and whisper...

how are you going to afford that?

so many people would kill to be in your position and you're going to waste it?

why do you think you deserve this?

what are you going to do?

don't you think you're just wasting time?

don't you have soul-crushing amounts of student loans?

But I can tell you,

when you stop listening to those voices

and make the decision your heart is begging for...

all you feel is...

relief.

So, I still have no definitely answers to the questions above.

But I'm only on this earth once,

and I certainly don't intend to let it pass me by.

Right now, I'm dreaming up plans for this year off.

 And it feels magical.

There is so much beauty in this life,

and so much more to it than 9-5, grades, and hanging on.

So feel free to dream with me.

What would you do with a year off?

I'm open to suggestions!

----------------------------------------

Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

-Mary Oliver

Photos: Pinterest

So Saturn Returned...

 In Astrology, the planet Saturn returns to the same place in the sky it was when you graced this planet with your birth sometime around your 29th year.

This marks a new phase of your life, a crossing over, a threshold.  

A time when you take stock of all you have been given, learned and gathered 

through your childhood and young adult years,

decide what is truly you,

what you want to carry with you in the future,

and

discard the rest.

According to my birth chart,

Saturn returned 

in October of 2012 for me.

So, there's been some changes!

Stay tuned...

Lately

Lately, I have not had internet.

Currently, I am in a coffee shop in Farmington, NM,

so that I can post something.

Because I've missed blogging.

And have done so many great things the last couple of months!

Had some Vermont fall time...many, many apple pies.

 

The beau took me hunting for the first time!

[bird flies up through the trees]

Me:  Was that a partridge?

Beau: Yep.

Me: Was that my shot?

Beau: Yep.

Maybe I'll be better next time...

 Went home to Georgia for a couple of weeks!

Hit up the Cumming County Fair with the family.

Complete with Deep Fried Kool-Aid.

I <3 p="p" south.="south." the="the">

 Paper-mached for the first time in about 10 years.  Making a pinata for little sister Jenna's 23rd birthday!

Watched her last games a college soccer player.  Was a very proud big sister.

18 years of dedication and passion is pretty inspiring.

Drove down to Charleston, SC to see my forever best friend,

walk on the beach, bike around her neighborhood, eat delicious food with her great friends,

and have rooftop drinks.

Also during all of this month I was reading a book a day for a 

"Medical Leadership" month,

which was amazingly inspiring.

 

 I also got to visit her 2nd grade classroom 

(for her 1st year of teaching!)

and teach the kiddos some organ systems.

Back in North Georgia,

we partook in some rare October surfing behind the boat.

Check out that model form!

 Did some Georgia fall hiking with the little mama!

 Got to see some friends from high school I haven't seen in too long.

And meet some new additions!

(p.s. for those who know these people, that's not Ryan's baby.  It's Stewart's. You didn't miss something.)

Scooched back to Vermont right quick to see these boys.

Then loaded up the car to drive out to New Mexico for a rotation 

on the Navajo Reservation through the Indian Health Services!

 Annie and I hauled it across the country in 3 days. 

We ate at truck stops...

And had stomach aches for 3 days...

 We passed through Middle America.

There was nothing there.

(This was the only picture I took!)

But we did get to see some awesome people...

my friend Austin doing his ortho residency in Indianapolis

and 

Annie's friend from the Peace Corps, somewhere in Missouri!

We did on recommendation though,

stop at The Big Texan in Amarillo.

 They had a food challenge of eating everything on that tray that waitress is holding in that picture,

and it was free.

4 1/2 pounds of steak.

Our stomachs were still a little timid after all the truck stops

(although we did eat all that food in the other picture!).

Maybe next time!

Finally we crossed into the land of enchantment

and scooped up the 3rd member of our party, Taylor, in Albuquerque.

Fall in Albuquerque was gorgeous! 

After a delicious farm-to-table brunch,

purchasing on-sale Day of the Dead goods,

and getting some good local information from an old man in a bookstore in Old Town,

we headed up to the Rez.

This is Shiprock.

The Navajo name for it means 'winged rock'

because the myth is that is was a bird monster that was killed and crashed into the ground.

Either way,

it's beautiful and is on the edge of Shiprock, the town.

We've had some good adventures out here already.

I drove out to Shiprock one day

and hiked up the volcanic shale to the true base.

And tested out my Dad's car on the dirt roads to get to and from the rock.

(Don't worry Dad, handled it like a champ!) 

Went to a Navajo rug auction at an elementary school in Crownpoint.

Pretty epic.

Hit up the Flea Market in Shiprock on a Saturday.

We bought a couple albums from this guy.

Including one of his old band singing some Country Western hits.

Also epic.

Ate some mutton stew and fry bread (Navajo food)

at the Flea Market.

(It was not epic.)

Have seen some pretty spectacular ancient cliff dwellings and canyons, 

on this hike and at Mesa Verde.

 Oh yes, 

and I've been doing a rotation in the ER

and learning a lot.

 More adventures to come with 

Thanksgiving with the beau in Taos,

10 days to make our way to Billings, MT at the end of the rotation,

and then a mad dash back across the country to Vermont!

Sometimes I think maybe I should just settle down a bit and stop bouncing around so much,

but then I think,

nah, better not.

-------------------------------------------------

We travel,

some of us forever,

to seek other states, other lives, other souls.

-Anais Nin