An Italian Holiday - Introduction

Waayyyyyyyyyyyy back in April of this year, Scott and I took a trip to Italy for 10 days. It was a celebratory and why the hell not sort of trip. It seems like ages ago. We left for Italy only a couple of days after Scott finished his fourth year rotations of medical school and since we got home, our life hasn't slowed down... until now.

We decided to go to Italy on March 1st and left on April 8th.  Let's just say I ate, drank, and slept trip planning. It was a whirlwind of preparation. Neither of us had traveled internationally (Canada and the Bahamas don't count) and therefore I had to do lots and lots of research. Research makes me feel better about life. What can I say, I'm a planner! Also, Rick Steves' books are awesome. I was basically in a relationship with him for the 5 weeks leading up to our trip.

Anyway, I'm going to break our trip up by day so that means a lot of posts but there will be pictures too!

Thankfully we had a travel journal with us and we wrote about the day's events before we went to bed each night. The details are still fresh four months later. I'll share our adventures over the next few weeks.

Here we go!

Italy here we come! 

The Other Charleston

The location of Scott's third month of rotations was in Charleston... West Virginia.  Like Detroit, this city gets a bad rap. Especially when compared to it's distant relation Charleston, South Carolina.

A typical conversation about possibly moving to Charleston, WV goes like this: 

Them: "So do you know where you are moving after graduation?" 

Me: "Not yet. It could be Charleston..."

Them: *eyes light up and envy washes over their face* 

Me: "...West Virginia."

Them: "Oh. That's too bad. How awesome would it be if it was South Carolina?!" 

Yes, it would be awesome if it was Charleston, SC. Scott would probably sweat to death but that's okay. However, there is something to be said about the mountains. They give off this peace and sense of solidarity. Charleston, WV is nestled among the mountains of West Virginia and sits on the Kanawha (pronounced Ken-aw) River. Here are a few things I loved about the "other Charleston".

1. There are delicious places to eat. I guess this is a universal truth in most cities because we are human and we like to eat. Charleston is no exception. The first weekend I went to visit Scott, we went to the cute place called Lola's. They serve gourmet pizzas and salads. I was digging their cajun shrimp pizza!

Another delicious place was Black Sheep. We had brunch there but they are known for their burritos. Hopefully we will get the chance to try them someday.

2. The City Market. It's a farmers market that is open year round. It also has a gourmet grocery store and a restaurant.

It's the perfect place to take a Saturday morning stroll for some fresh produce. We were there in the Fall so there were pumpkins galore.

3. An old fashioned bookstore. Nuff' said.

4. It's 2 1/2 hours from our families. I can't tell you how nice it would be to be able to hop in the car to visit our families for the weekend or even the day. No 10 hour drive or expensive plane ticket. Just a tank of gas and a few tolls.

To sum it all up, Charleston is the perfect size city for us. It's not too big but not too small. It's rural enough for my hillbilly hubby but enough shopping options to keep me happy. Like Detroit, this city has much more to offer than first meets the eye. You just have to give it a chance.

The Motor City

I thought I'd share my thoughts on the cities we might move to come May or June 2015. I've visited Scott in every city he has rotated through (more on that process here). He started out the summer in Detroit and spent two months there. He rotated through three programs in Detroit that we could potentially move to in 2015. 

So Detroit. Every conversation I've had with someone about possibly moving there goes like this: 

Them: "So do you know where you are moving after graduation?"

Me: "Not yet. It could be Detroit or...."

Them: **winces** "You do NOT want to move there!" 

I would say 50% of the time that person hasn't even been to Detroit. They are basing their opinions off of articles, the news, and rumors. I was one of those people which means I had LOW expectations going to visit Detroit. I'm kinda glad I did. No, it's not New York City or Washington DC (or insert your favorite city here), but it's still a city with lots of things to do. Yes, there are abandoned buildings but you can feel the city renewing itself. So here are few cool things about Detroit. 

1. There are cute and safe towns/suburbs right outside of the city. We stayed in a town called Northville while I was visiting. There were so many beautiful Victorian Era houses. I could have died from all the character oozing from that town. They had a yummy pizza place called Pizza Cutter that we ate at twice. 

We also found the town we would try to live in if we moved to Detroit. It's called Royal Oak which I think would be fitting (Get it? The Kings would live in Royal Oak). It's a suburb with lots of young people and young families, good restaurants, a farmers market on Saturday and an antique market on Sundays. It's only 20 minutes to Detroit.

2. Arts and Culture. This city has a rich history of blues, jazz, pop, and rap. Not to mention it's the birthplace of the automobile industry. We went to the Detroit Institute of Arts for a Jazz Concert one night. It was so much fun! 

The mural inside where the concert took place was pretty fabulous. The music was too. As Scott would say, they were jammin'. 

That's not all Detroit has to offer. There is the Ford Museum (we didn't make it there during our visit), there is a HUGE Farmer's Market (we did make it to that and we had some amazing custard pie from one of the vendors), and even Eminem was in town for a concert (sorry to disappoint but we didn't make it to that either). 

3. Food. Detroit is melting pot of cultures. We had southern BBQ (it was AAAAH-MAZING), authentic mexican food, and, though I didn't get to go, Scott had some yummy sushi at a place called Noble Fish. 

Also, they have this new trend around Detroit of turning old service garages into restaurants. We went to one in Berkley (another cute town). They have American cuisine but with a flare. Also, two words: adult milkshakes. 

4. You can visit Canada! We only went to Windsor, Canada (across the Detroit River from Detroit) and I'll be honest, it wasn't very exciting. Being questioned by border patrol (or whatever it's called) was intense! 

We also had to buy gas in Canada and we had no idea how much money we were spending or how much gas we were getting! haha! Also, the speed limit was in kilometers, I know that's not really surprising but somehow I was.

That's us in Canada with Detroit in the background. 

5. Sports. Detroit Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings (hockey if you were wondering). The Tigers were in town while we were there and we were even planning to go to a game on Scott's birthday (shout-out to the best brother-in-law ever for getting us tickets). Sadly, Scott didn't get off until 9:30pm on his birthday so we missed the game!  

To sum it all up, Detroit was a pleasant surprise! I spoke with someone from Detroit and they said it's a fun city to live in but not a fun city to be a tourist. I would agree with that and it's all about expectations. If you ever visit, try to look at the city with an open mind and I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised! 

Fourth Year

Oh hi there. Long time no see! I have lots of excuses why that is but the main one is:

it's Scott's fourth year of medical school.

I can't believe it! Anyway, I thought I would explain a little bit about what this year looks like for us. It's kind of complicated so bear with me. If I get something wrong you medical folks, forgive me.

Let's start with the basics. Scott is an osteopathic medical student (want to learn more about what that is? Go here). The other philosophy of medicine is allopathic which is what an M.D. trains in. After medical school both D.O. and M.D. go to residency. The length of residency varies depending on the field of medicine the student chooses. Once all is said and done Scott will be a fully licensed physician (same as any M.D.) but he will have D.O. after his name.

At both osteopathic and allopathic medical schools, there are 4 years of school. The first two years are in the classroom. The second two years are clinical rotations. There are differences depending on the school with how the 3rd and 4th year are laid out. For Scott, his 3rd year of medical school had 9 months of 1 month rotations in mostly primary care medicine (Family, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine). All of these month long rotations were set up by the school and all students had to complete the same rotations.

White Coat Ceremony 2011

4th year is a little different. At Scott's school and in the D.O. world (I don't know much about the M.D. process) the student schedules two week or month long clinical rotations in the first half of the year in the field of medicine they want to practice. Most of the time they schedule rotations at the residency programs they are applying to. These are called "audition rotations". The student spends two weeks to a month with doctors and residents at one of the residencies the students is applying to. This gives the student and the doctors/residents a chance to see if the student will be a good fit at the residency program. Often the audition rotation determines if the student is invited for an interview during interview season. Students typically schedule their audition rotations between July-November. Interviews begin in November and run through January.

Audition rotations can take you all over the country. Scott has audition rotations scheduled in Michigan and West Virginia. Because of the speciality Scott wants to do, we are limited to certain areas of the country. It's not like that for everyone.

Once the student is finished with audition rotations and interviews. It's time to rank the residency programs for the Match. The Match is what determines where you go to residency. The student ranks each program in numerical order starting with their first choice. The residency programs do the same thing to their applicants. Both the student and residency submit their rankings and some magical algorithm in a computer matches a student and a program based on the rankings both submitted.

At this time, there are two matches. The AOA Match (D.O.) and the ACGME Match (M.D.).  At this time a D.O. can participate in either match and can attend either a D.O. or M.D. residency. An M.D. can only apply to the ACGME Match because they have not been trained in osteopathic manipulation (Side note: in the next few years the Matches will be combined and there will only be one for both D.O. and M.D. students). The AOA Match is in February and the A.C.G.M.E. Match is in March. Scott is participating in the AOA Match this year so we will find out where we are going for residency in February 2015.

Mr. VCOM Pageant 2013

After the audition rotations, Scott will be back in the New River Valley completing the rest of his fourth year rotations in various fields of medicine. I can't remember all of them but I know Emergency Medicine is one of them.

Scott will finish rotations in April, graduates in May, and will most likely start residency in July.

CRAZY! 

Anyway, to sum all this up. Scott has been gone since the beginning of July and will be back at the end of November. We trade off who visits who and we Facetime A LOT. (What did we do before iPhones?). Because 4th year is so expensive with all the traveling, we downsized. I am living with my parents while Scott is gone and we have rented our townhouse to another VCOM couple. We will relocate in January to live with Scott's mom so Scott will be closer to the hospitals he will be working at in the New River Valley. We are so incredibly thankful for our families' willingness to let us mooch. Love y'all.

So, yeah, we are basically nomads with two cats in tow.

What being married to a medical student has taught me....

It's okay to be alone

I can't say I'm the best at this. Growing up with 2 sisters, sharing a bedroom, being homschooled, taking dance classes, I was never really alone. That carried over into college, and into our first year of marriage. Then medical school started and it all changed. That was a tough transition. I also graduated college that spring so I  had to adjust to a new job, all my friends leaving but me staying in the area, and of course, Scott being gone. When I got off from work I sat on the couch by myself, stuffing my face with oreos, watching every crime TV show I could find. Yeah, that was a tough year.

Somewhere along the way though, I picked myself up and started being industrious around the house. (I'm sure this had to do with my mother's gentle nudging).  I cooked, I crafted, I sewed, I read. I came to realize that being alone wasn't that bad. I had always relied on another person to fill my time and it was rather freeing not having to rely on someone else. I still have bouts from time to time of self pity and comparing my life to others, but I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to cultivate myself on my own.

How to say crazy medical terminology

Hepatosplenomegaly. Nuff said.

It's the little things

There were so many moments I used to take for granted but I savor now. I love to sit on the couch with Scott and just watch TV (dare I say, football!), to take a walk in our neighborhood, hold hands at dinner, the list could go on and on. Our time was/is so limited that we choose to savor the little things instead of dwelling on the "big things" we can't do right now, like actually spending the entire evening together or taking weekend trips.

Flexibility 

Scott's schedule can change at the drop of a hat. He can get off early from the clinic one day and then be hours late the next. It makes planning difficult. If you know me, you'll know I don't deal with my plans changing well. I get all moody and pouty. Being in a medical marriage has taught me to check my attitude... most of the time. I've learned that my attitude isn't going to change the outcome except make myself miserable.

Sacrificial Love

Marriage is supposed to be a life long lesson on sacrificial love but sometimes I believe we took an accelerated course the past few years. I've put things on hold, at times I've taken the back seat to school, I've worked jobs I've hated to pay the bills, and more. It was/is hard. These years are about us but with a concentration on Scott. It bothers him and he wishes things were different. I have days where I get wrapped up in ME, totally selfish and self serving. Forgetting what Scott is doing is for us and our future. He is sacrificing BIG TIME to go to school for us. I try to bring those things to the forefront of my mind but what really helps is when I think of Jesus. When I compare my measly sacrifices to His and it flips my perspective upside down. I realize I am blessed to have the opportunity daily to emulate Jesus' sacrificial love in my marriage.

Support is Crucial  

Neither one of us could have gotten this far without the support of family and friends. Y'all are amazing! We are incredibly blessed to have family close by but I also got involved early on with a ministry for medical wives. It has blessed me beyond measure. If you take anything out of this post, please take the steps to become involved in a supportive community!

We are a team, it's not just his success it's ours  

This summer, while making small talk to a friend of a friend, they asked Scott what he did and he said "I'm in medical school" (He most likely didn't come right out and say it. He is very humble and unassuming.) They asked how much longer he had left, and I chimed in with " We only have two years left, thank goodness!" The person had a surprised look on their face and said "Oh, your in medical school too?". I laughed and cleared that up really quick. I realized a little while later that my answer was pretty indicative of our mentality though. It's not just Scott, it's us. This journey is ours, even though I'm not in the classroom or clinic with him. We see this as a team effort and we couldn't do it without each other.

I don't think any of these things are learned just through being in a medical marriage. Everyone will have challenges that can teach them the same thing. This is just my reflections of the last few years. I hope it's encouraging for someone, medical marriage or not. 

two more years

It's official. We will be staying in the Blacksburg area another two years! What, you thought that was a given? Well, it wasn't. I assumed it was until somewhat recently. Anyway, because of the school Scott goes to and the area it is located in, all of the third year rotations are not located in the same area. (For those of you who do not know, the first two years of medical school are in the classroom and the last two years are in a clinical setting. During the third and fourth year they rotate through different disciplines of medicine. Thus the name Rotations.)  Scott's school has seven regions you can go to for third year rotations ( and multiple sites within those regions). You are not randomly assigned (which was a relief!) but you do have to rank each region 1-7 and then rank each site within the regions. The school tries to match you to your first region and first site but that doesn't always work out. So that is where the uncertainty came in. Also, for an entire weekend Scott was seriously considering putting Roanoke as his first choice. I tried to be supportive but my heart wasn't in it. The idea of moving 45 minutes up the road for a year wasn't my idea of fun and then there was the issue of my job. I have nothing against Roanoke mind you, it's just everything for us is in Blacksburg and surrounding areas at the moment. My philosophy is, since we will have to uproot in two years anyway let's not do it sooner than we have to. Scott eventually decided to put the Blacksburg area as his first choice but if he hadn't, I would have moved to Roanoke. Really, I would have. I'm just glad our feelings ended up aligning! Long story short, we found out a little over a week ago that we were assigned to our first choice and it looks like most of Scott's classmates were assigned to their first choice as well. I think it's amazing that the school was able to make the vast majority happy. I don't know how they did it! I also realized, after all was said and done, how weird it is to think the next year of our life was in another person's hands.

This is a taste of the future. We will find out where we are going for residency in a similar fashion, except residency is not just a year. It's three to five! I prefer not to think about that now. We will cross that bridge when we get there!

For all you prayer warriors out there, pray for Scott over the next several months. He is taking step one of boards this summer. Scott likes to say, "studying for this isn't a sprint, it is a marathon." Please pray that he has strength and perseverance. And that I have understanding and patience through this process. 

That's it for the life update. I'll leave you with this oldie but goodie.

October 4, 2007 | The night Scott asked me to be his "girlfriend" after one of my dance performances

our new addition

Scott and I would like to introduce to you the newest addition to the King household.... Mia Purkinje!

Isn't she precious? Looks can be deceiving, she is a  little spitfire! She loves to play but is a snuggler when she gets tired. We named her after Mia Hamm the soccer player. She loves to play with balls. She actually is pretty talented! Her middle name is Purkinje because Scott is in the middle of Cardio block and that is a nerve that is very fast and spastic, like Mia. ( I hope what I just said was correct... that was from memory.)

Above is an example of her mad kitty soccer skills! The process to get her was very long. My sister, Annalee, told us about her because one of her friends was fostering little Mia. They found her in a ditch all by herself. I talked to Scott about it and he was not interested. I couldn't really make up my mind either. I knew a cat wouldn't be as big of a responsibility as a dog, or dare I say a child, but it was responsibility none the less. We had lived a care free married life, not having to worry about being gone or just picking up and leaving for a few days. I got some guilt trips from Annalee (she would say they weren't guilt trips), saying the foster person would take her to the pound if no one got her a couple of weeks. I felt between a rock and a hard place. Scott didn't want it, I did but then I didn't, and if we didn't it would die! It was horrible. We started over though, and prayed about it. We decided a few days later to get her. I'm so glad we did!

How could you say no to that sweet little face? We have had her for over a week now. It took us this long to decide on a name! I don't even want to think about the naming process if we have a kid!!!


A little update on us. Scott is almost done with Block 4 of medical school, which means almost done with year one! His last day is June 20th. So close but yet so far! I'm starting to get busy at work with weddings. I definitely still have a lot to learn but I'm loving my job. That's about it for us right now. I'll leave you with the cutest picture ever...

block three... it's in the basket.

Scott finished Block Three on Friday!!! Woot woot! Everyone told us this was a tough one and they were right. Scott's class covered neurology and ears, eyes, nose, throat.  It definitely was a doozy but I'm so proud of Scott.  He likes to down play it but don't listen to him, he did VERY well. In honor of block three being over we had a bonfire small fire. When I say small, I mean itty bitty. It was a candle actually. Its flame was sufficient for our purpose and served our needs just fine.

tough guy

He means business

He was slightly concerned at the height of the flame

What a face! He was a little too happy to see that burn.

3 blocks down, 5 to go... and boards and rotations and residency.

baby steps.

lookin' all official and such

Hello long lost friends! I have not dropped off the face of the earth nor have I forgotten I have a blog. I seem to have become really busy over the last month. I guess my excuse is the holiday season. (Not sure if that is actually accurate but we'll just go with it.) To catch you all up I'll start with where I left off. November.

Scott got his White Coat on November 20th! I have to say, I got really excited and made a few things to commemorate the event. Peruse pictures below if you haven't already seen them on Facebook.

But before you do, let me just tell you little about why he got his White Coat. It basically is a rite of passage. It encourages the students and I think it makes what they are striving for more tangible. From my understanding it is a fairly new tradition to the world of medicine. Fun Fact Alert! Medical students have shorter coats than doctors. Once they graduate they get their real coat which are longer. Scott, being Scott, decided he had to be different. He got a XXL big and tall size so his coat would look longer. Silly boy! He still looks pretty dashing!

Front of invites I made. If you didn't get one it's only because they were very time consuming to make not because we don't love you!

 I made White Coat cookies to commemorate. They didn't turn out as well as I imagined but does anything ever?

Front of the program on the big day!

Processing into the ceremony

Waiting his turn

Scott's Dad putting on his coat. Only a doctor can put a coat on a medical student. Since Scott's dad is one it made the day even more special.

Reciting the Osteopathic Oath

Being silly with Granny

The whole gang!

So proud of my hubby! Notice what's in the background. That's where we got married over two years ago.

 

Steppin Out With My Baby

Almost two Saturdays ago Scott and I went to a Gala held by Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association in celebration of VCOM's 10 year anniversary. It was held at Hotel Roanoke. We got to get all dressed up and PAR-TAY! It was good times with good friends. We didn't take too many pictures but the few we did are below.

Also a brief life update. Scott is almost done with his first block of medical school! Wooohooooo! Can you believe it has been 10 weeks already? We certainly can't. He has two more finals this week and block one is in the basket!

Our fabulous friends and neighbors Steve and Sarah Pupillo!

After Dinner

This is Scott's artistic shot of the night- everyone walking to their cars!

For those that want to know...

Scott:
He is now done with three weeks of medical school! Yay! Of course that's really just a drop in the bucket but it's something.  The first week was mostly orientation. Then his second week was full on classes. The third week started tests. He has at least two tests a week from here on out. Usually on Mondays so I don't see him during the weekends. Well, I don't see him during the week either! I was warned about that many times but that doesn't make it any easier. We set aside Friday night for date night though. We usually try to have a few dinners together during the week as well. I think we are getting into a groove now. Also for anyone that would like to know this block he is taking microbiology, immunology, histology, pathology, genetics and a couple of others I can't remember! The way they have classes set up at VCOM is in 10 week blocks. So he starts a new block in October with new classes. Below is a video from the first week of school if anyone has some time to kill. You can see where he takes class, see some of his professors and classmates. Scott is in there a couple of times too!


Sarah:
Let's see, um... well hmmmmm. I finished watching all the Harry Potter movies. Yup that's about it.


Here is the video for Scott's first week of class: