12 for 2012.

I occasionally go back and look at this little blog-- mostly when it's late at night, I can't  possibly memorize another drug name/bacteria name/hard-to-pronounce eponym, and I just need a brief stroll down memory lane. When I first started this blog, my only real goal was to document my year as an expat for friends and family. What I didn't realize, however, is that I was also documenting it for someone else-- my future self.

While I flip through a lot of old posts, my favorites are the "Year in Reviews". I actually posted 2010 and 2011, and have had 2012 sitting in my "Drafts" folder for over a year now. I'm pretty sure nobody reads this anymore, but I know I do (or will), so I decided to write. And remember.

So, without further ado: 2012.


1. Disney Princess Half Marathon

princesses.

I ran this race on an almost-whim. A dinner with an old friend somehow turned into a last-minute race registration, a crazy 20-hours-of-driving-in-3-days roadtrip, a day at Disney World, and one of my greatest weekend memories. Disney is always a good idea.


2. Rock n' Roll DC Half Marathon

me, b, amy, keith. swiss friends reuniting by the cherry blossoms!

Second and slowest half marathon of 2012. My running definitely was not on, but it was still an amazing weekend in the capital: long dinners with old friends, cookouts in the sunshine, exploring the Smithsonian, seeing the Cherry Blossoms in bloom (a week early, just for us!), and the first time Ben and I have run a race completely together, start to finish.

3. Cooper River Bridge Run

love love love love love

Clearly, I spent a good part of the first half of 2012 running-- and I wouldn't have it any other way! Ben and I met up for a sunny weekend in Charleston to run the Cooper River Bridge run. The Bridge Run was actually my first ever 10k and I was surprised by how much I liked it! The Half is still my favorite distance, but I liked being able to push myself a bit more in a shorter distance.  Running across the bridge was a blast, and spending a weekend with Ben and his family in the sunshine, sand, and waves was a much-needed break.

4. First Trip to SF!

me + be + golden gate bridge

Although Ben had technically been working in SF since November 2011, April was the first time I was able to visit the city. I. Loved. It. We were blessed with unseasonably warm weather (I would later learn the city is not always 80 degrees and sunny!) and spent a fantastic long weekend being tourists: sampling the chocolate at Ghiradelli square, taking a boat ride across the Bay, visiting the Golden Gate Bridge, and spending hours and hours walking the many hills of San Francisco.


5. Weekend in Louisville: Derby Half Marathon + Kathleen's Bridal Shower

me + kathleen with the rehearsal dinner bouquet!

me + daddy, post-13.1

My last and fastest Half Marathon of 2012. My Dad had run the Derby Half several times before, but logistics had never worked out for me to join him. This year, however, the Derby Half fell on the same weekend as my friend Kathleen's Bridal shower-- making for a wonderful weekend of family, friends, tea sandwiches, mile markers, and a whole lot of smiles. The Derby Half itself was a blast-- mile 8 is actually through Churchill Downs (where the actual Derby horses run!).


5. My First Presentation! 2012 Advances in Organ Transplant Conference

Definitely a highlight of 2012. In May, I flew up to Boston to give a talk on the roll Clara-Cell Secretory Protein in lung transplant rejection! I was super nervous, but really enjoyed speaking to and getting feed back from transplant physicians from around the country. I learned a lot, and was also able to meet up with a Duke friend in Boston.

6. The Great Urban Race: another DC adventure!

brittany, me, meg, and hannah, repping duke and solving clues!

Also in May, I headed back up to DC to meet up with some of my favorite Duke girls for a crazy adventure. Although this is called a "race", it resembled a scavenger hun far more than a 5k. Armed with a sheet of clues, we walked all over the city, taking photos of ourselves at various monuments, restaurants, street signs, and other corners of the city. We definitely didn't win, but we had a blast spending time together and venturing off the beaten path of an incredible cool city.

7. San Francisco Again! Napa + Big Sur

me + b in big sur

I rounded out my post-bacc/pre-med time with a phenomenal week in Northern California. Ben and I spent one long weekend exploring the Monterey/Big Sur region. We visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, hiked along the coast in Big Sur, and saw thousands of elephant seals (!) at the Piedras Blancas Rookery. Ben then went back to work for a few days while I explored the city solo and did some reading. After that, we took another long weekend trip-- this time north, to Napa! We loved sampling and learning about the wine, eating delicious food, and strolling through the sun-soaked vineyards. All in all, it was a perfect "last hurrah" before I buckled down and got back to work.

8. Welcome to Med School!

white coated!

In July, I packed up my car and drove from Durham, NC, my home for nearly 5 years, to Nashville, TN, where I would begin the next stage in my career. At first, it was a little weird-- I was used to being an employee, not a student, and it took a while to readjust to late nights in the library and piles upon piles of flashcards. It also took a while to form a new friend group. When I left Durham, I was fortunately enough to have friends I met during my Freshman year of college-- nearly 6 years ago! Starting med school meant introducing myself and making new friends. Most of all, however, starting med school was just really, really exciting. I love learning just about everything, but learning about the human body-- the intricacies, the details, the thousands of delicate balances-- was (and still is!) just the best. 

9. Welcome to Nashville!

swimming and cliff-jumping at rock island state park

While starting Med School was a big big big transition, there were also countless small transitions-- making new friends, adjusting to a new time zone, and simply learning a new city! Fortunately, Ben was able to visit quite a bit, and we had tons of fun exploring state parks, botanical gardens, new restaurants, vineyards, and Nashville's fantastic music scene.

10. Kathleen's Wedding!

bridesmaids holding up zack, the groom!

In August, Kathleen got married! I've always called Kathleen my "baby sister"-- we may not be biologically related, but her family is my family and vice versa. Kathleen's wedding was amazing. I cried, I laughed, I danced until my feet hurt, and then I took off my shoes and danced some more. It was a beautiful, beautiful evening.


11. Four Year Anniversary: White Water Rafting

just before the first big set of rapids!

Each year, for our "dating anniversary", Ben and I try to go on an adventure. For our first anniversary, we climbed Pilot Mountain in NC. For year number two, we moved to Switzerland! (Ok, Switzerland was not for our anniversary-- but our flight did fall on our anniversary date!). For year three, we went Zip-lining. And for year four-- we went white-water rafting!

The Ococee River is some of the best Class III and IV rafting in the US. It was even the location for the kayak slalom competition in the 1996 Olympics!


12. My First Publication! More Lung Transplant. 

It's hard to pick only one more even to tie up 2012! To be honest, however, most the the activities the filled the end of 2012 don't really translate well to a blog: hours spent in lecture, studying notes, in the anatomy lab, in the histology lab, working in small groups, volunteering at the free clinic, working on an oncology clinical team, and learning how to be a medical student. It was exciting and I loved it, but it doesn't translate well to a single photo or bullet point. What does translate, however, is my first publication! Some of the work I did at Duke on lung transplant was written up for publication, and in fall 2012 was accepted and published! Definitely a fantastic way to tie up an exciting, busy, and transitional year!