THE MATCH

They say that time flies when you're having fun. And I suppose it does. But time has a way of flying nevertheless. It's the theme of this blog and the main objective. Documentation purposes. No matter how good or how bad things are, they move. It's the way of the universe and sometimes the only thing you can depend on in this crazy path of life.

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Lately time has been hustlin'. Except for this past week when I could almost swear to you that each day actually had about 48 hours each. That's because this last week was Match Week. It is pretty famous in it's own world of medical school. It's the end all be all. It's the only (and worst) reoccurring nightmare I've ever had in the past 4 or 5 years of my life.

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The Match is a process where you interview and rank and get ranked to "match" with a program to get a residency. Residency is the next step of medical school. The step where you are a graduate and a doctor but can't do crap unless you get a residency. It's 3 more years of training and specializing in a specific area of medicine so you can practice as a physician afterwards. They pay you just a tiny bit of money and work you about 80 hours a week and you get to pay back student loans. Yeah. It's loads of fun.

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You spend months interviewing and stressing before you turn in your "list." You rank all the programs you applied to/ interviewed at and a computer algorithm compares it to how each program ranked applicants and you get matched up. It's of course more convoluted and involved but that's all you really need to know.

Monday you get an e-mail notifying you if you matched. It was scheduled to come at 8:00 AM local time. And came even maybe a minute early. Well, HE DID! He matched.

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I said, "HE MATCHED"

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Have you captured the feeling that I am incredibly relieved and excited?!

It was strange. Even with all the things that went wrong with the application process and how stressful it was, and how the odds weren't really in his favor (IMG over here)- I had this calm feeling that he was going to match and that everything was totally okay. Easy for me to say. It was so cool to be there when he opened the e-mail and see relief just wash over his body entirely. I could tell it was kind of taking all day to truly set in.

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The week lumbered on while speculation and anxiety increased- for me at least. By the time Friday morning rolled around I couldn't sit still. I was more anxious than Monday morning by far. It was the mix of excitement and the fact that I had been waiting for this day for 4 years. THIS will be the place we will live for the next 3 years which is still longer than any other place we have been on this med school path. The minutes slogged by and I worked my hardest to stay focused at work.

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I asked Ross if he had any regrets about his rank order list. He said he had a feeling we would end up in Vegas. I had this feeling about Phoenix, but at Ross's mention of Vegas I started thinking of my next three years in any of the places on his list. Tulsa maybe? I still had this feeling that he would match at his #1 spot. So when the text FINALLY came, I wanted to scream for joy (and relief).

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SCOTTSDALE, AZ! Texted with plenty of cacti emojis.

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There you have it folks! Come June the Petersens shall move again.

From Somewhere Beyond to the Sea, to Somewhere in the Golden State, to Somewhere Among the Cacti! Time to change the blog name cos there's nothing these two crazy kids can't do.

DTLA

Friday afternoon Ross picked me up from work. Exhausted, I was excited because I knew I had a 4-day weekend upon me! But then the most beautiful thing happened.

ROSS TOLD ME HE HAD MONDAY OFF.

I think I choked. On my own breath. Maybe I zoned off into Lala Land of Impossibility. I don't know how long I was gone. But when I came to, I still didn't have many words. I tried to act cool.

"WANNA DO SOMETHING?!"

So we set some plans, mostly centered around Ross's recent hot dog craving. I personally crave two kinds of hot dogs. 1. LA hot dogs and 2. Jdawgs.

When you need a hot dog. You need a hot dog. So I got that boy a hot dog.

But not before stopping in downtown LA first. I've been to the flower market, and I've been to to classier part of downtown, lots of parts of it. Even the Skid Row part of it. But I never spent time in the fashion/garment district area.

It's all a bit overwhelming. Bloggers love to tell you their tips and tricks for fabric steals. But take it with a grain of salt because I felt like I was being bulldozed by 1,000 huge rolls of fabric on every corner.



How you grab said fabric out of the center of these rows, I do not know. No one is getting through this exit for a while.



But it was fun just walking around amongst it all. I kinda felt like I needed to leave some bread crumbs somewhere but luckily everything in DTLA is a grid and pretty easy to navigate even if it all starts looking the same after awhile.

The area isn't just for fabric though. This one shop (well, more than one) was dedicated to trimmings, ribbons, chains, jewels, rhinestones- almost floor to ceiling.

We also checked out Moskatel's, a huge warehouse style Michaels. They had huge Halloween displays including a haunted swamp shack surrounded by bubbling smoking water.



Craft items as far as the eye can see! Including probably 100 different floral arrangement cards!

Santee Alley ain't what it used to be, but you gotta walk down it just for the experience. $3 leggings and shoes and knock-off Mac make-up galore.



This Yelp review of Santee Alley, "Now I know what it's like to be sober in Tijuana. Guess i can check that off the bucket list of stuff I never wanted to do." Bahaha.



Last minute before we split for some hot dogs, we found a knock-off perfume shop. I always get a kick out of knock-off names (see proof here). So I was having the time of my life browsing.

U-GO BOOS.



I almost had tears rolling down my cheeks. I'm currently obsessed with Juicy Coture's Viva La Juicy. I found a sufficient knock-off and for $5 snatched it right up. This is perfect for me cos then I get to try out the scent without full monetary and day-long-effervescence commitment.

On our way back we cut through the Flower Market which was closing, but still fun to catch a glimpse of the busy-ness from earlier that morning.



Next we rolled over to the aforementioned Pink's hot dogs. An LA necessity.



I once saw it on a list of overrated things in LA. I was personally offended on both moral and emotional levels. Then I promptly lost offensive by drowning myself in a hot dog smothered in all sorts of guacamole and nacho cheese. Pink's hot dogs are my spirit animal. Or maybe the bacon on top of those fries.



I've been wanting to explore Los Angeles's beach communities a little more. For as long as I've been going to beaches here, I don't have much variety. Today seemed the perfect day to visit Manhattan beach.






It's the middle of October but still really hot.



We walked out on the pier but mostly just wanted to jump into the waves.



So we did the next best thing and visited a cute little ice cream and candy shop. They had pretty tasty looking cupcakes but our eyes were on the homemade ice cream sandwiches.



They were divine. Why can't every day be a day off?

First Day of the Last

I remember being in college, every loved to post about their last first day of school. It's probably not true with the amount of grad school happening, but it is still fun to say. That's why I write this post title with a grain of salt. Ross has begun his final year of medical school.

But then you also have residency.

and fellowship.



But at least it is his last first day of his final year of paying tuition. So I will take that.

It is amazing how much difference a year makes. Here he is 3rd year. And also his first day of medical school and white coat ceremony!

Now he's starting his 4th and final year of school before his earns his MD. You can tell I can't care less cos this picture is all awful and blurry looking.



Just kidding of course. He's so close. I will take this time commemorate how far we have come:



How hard he has worked, forged in the flames of Hell adversity.

And everything he has to look forward to: 

And how good he makes scrubs look: 

Before we know it he will be applying for residency.

When the Tan Lines Fade

Today I decided to figure out how to make those cool little tabs at the top of the text box and below the header. So I did. And it provided me with a nice little walk down Grenada Memory Lane.



I am always surprised by how powerful those emotions can come back. Seeing pictures of our first home there makes me feel excited and anxious. Many of the pictures bring back memories saturated in sun but cooled by the bright hues of turquoise waters. Other memories remind me of darker days of hopelessness and despair.

The last semester there was such a blur of working two jobs and counting days til I left. I didn't blog nearly as much as I should have- considering all the adventures and emotions I experienced. But it is fun too, because at this point those memories rest safely in my head. There for only me.

When my friend blogged about her memories of Grenada, having left a few months ago, she was so eloquent. It filled my mind with all the good memories of Grenada and I knew for sure it was time for a post. I started looking back at pictures and my heart yearned for the lazy days. The days of walking to the beach to watch the sunset over the bay. Laying in the warm sun and swimming in the sea. I think of how lucky I was. I am humbled and awed by my experiences.

Then I slap myself and remember how hard it was too.



It's like celebrating your Nobel Peace Prize and forgetting the pain and frustration that went in to achieving it. And I'm conflicted. Should I feel joy and awe? Or bitterness and sadness?

But I remember that I can do both! Life isn't 365 Days of adventures at a time. Life is hard. But it can be good. And I wasn't lucky, I am lucky. I could want so much more. But right now I don't.

Facebook reminded me that this was 3 years ago today. No better way to celebrate than by paying $491 for a partial PTAL for residency applications!

Moving?

Ross and I knew that our lease was coming up for our current apartment. And I really want a new apartment. See how I didn't say "I want to move"? Because I am smarter than that. We move about once a year. And it doesn't get easier. This is well documented on this blog. Maybe I should even consider a new title. Instead of "Petersens Beyond the Sea" it should be, "Petersens Moving Again." Yeah. I like that.

You know what else I like? Box hoarding. At work I am the individual responsible for ordering supplies for our department.

All I see is potential

Which means I get to dispose of boxes and packing supplies. Or shamefully haul it home instead of to the dumpster. Ross will come to pick me up and be like,

"What's that for?"

And instead of angrily being like, "YOU MADE MY LIFE THIS WAY!" I just tell him to not worry about it. So I'm like, moving?



This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, including myself, but the search for an apartment has been incredibly un-fruitful. Just rotting fruit-full. Being consistently plagued by paste-eating apartment managers has been the most frustrating. We've gone to look at a few places, but it seems nothing is going to pan out. This serious conversation happened.



Part of me is panicking because I already gleefully kissed (what I thought to be) my bus-riding days goodbye. You know the days of missing the bus, or running to the bus in 95 degree heat, or ending up walking home in sandals because the bus drove by. Yeah those days. I thought they were over. As I begin to admit defeat, I find myself gazing into the distance, staring at my bus-misadventure-riddled future thinking....