Respect for Military Families

Mom and Dad arrive tomorrow for the next wedding (Wedding Season 2013 may be our busiest yet) of the year.  Their Goddaughter is getting married in San Juan Capistrano kind of at the last minute because her fiancee has been deployed to the coast of North Korea (I think) and he will be shipping out prior to their original wedding date.

This is actually the second couple I have personally known who've had to change their wedding plans based on a change in deployment plans.  It's just really tough to think that you'd plan so much for this day and spend all this money and then something so huge comes up that is completely out of your control and you just have to go with it.  No questions asked.  No temper tantrums.  You give everything up and just make it work.

Military families, especially wives and husbands, are so fascinating to me.  I mean seriously, we talk about how strong and resilient the men and women in the armed forces are but the real strength is the people who are left here.  The people who keep the homes and families running all on their own.  Man, I am so impressed.  

I complain about medical school and residency but I am so thankful Sam won't ever have to ship out at the last minute and be away for months at a time.  Yes, our long distance relationship in college was hard, but by the time we were 21 we agreed we didn't want to do anything like that again.  And Sam may go off for a month and do away rotations abroad at some point, but it will be planned and very premeditated- and I can always go visit him!

Dr. Galle

It has been a very busy week!  Sam and I arrived at LAX last Tuesday night after a very long flight home.  Pete and Margaux were there to pick us up as we came through customs, and Margaux had made an amazing meatloaf with sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese- it was unreal!  Meatloaf sandwiches were just the American food to come home to, hands down.  The following morning, Sam and I woke up to find a wonderful spread of baked goods, fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, coffee and fruit juice.  It was like we were still on vacation!

Wednesday and Thursday we pulled together some semblance of normalcy before our parents and Sam's friends and relatives arrived for his graduation on Friday.  The weekend was a blur!  

Sam getting ready to be hooded, our friends Anna and Brian were reading the graduates' names

Pete & Margaux

It's so hard for me to believe that Sam is actually a licensed medical doctor- and that so many of our friends are as well.  The graduation ceremony was really well done, with a great speaker and white doves, and all-in-all it wasn't as long as I was afraid it might be.  The ceremony was followed by champagne and appetizers provided for the graduates and their guests by the school of medicine.  It was a great opportunity for us to see many of our friends whom we hadn't seen since we returned to the states. 

Santis & Galles

Sam and I also got to spend time with our parents who have been both financially and emotionally supportive of us during the last four years.  My parents did a great job holding their own among all of Sam's extended relatives and I was really happy to see them fitting into the greater Celniker clan.  

Tina & I, the significant other's club

After the ceremony, Sam's parents hosted a beautifully catered lunch at The Cannery of the Pacific in Newport Beach.  The food was outstanding, the champagne bubbling, and the company was impecable.  Obviously, we would have liked to have had more of Sam's classmates with us, but many of them were celebrating their own graduations with their families.  

After lunch we relaxed for a few hours before meeting up with the greater medical school class to head out to the Newport Beach Peninsula for one last hurrah.  It was pretty epic!

Sam and I have been hunting for an apartment the last two days, and I hope we've decided to rent one that I really liked in Irvine.  We'll have to see what Sam says.  Tomorrow we are driving up to Northern California to see our families and spend time with friends.  Our dear friend Dr. Zamary (it hasn't gotten old for me yet) is taking us boating on Thursday in the delta and I am meeting my college roommate Jackie for dinner afterwards.  Friday is Lindsay's birthday- the big 2-5 and we're BBQing at her house with her brother, sister-in-law, and cousin.  And then Saturday is the Dispatch concert Sam wanted to go to, and Sunday is Dan and Tina's engagement party.  Its amazing to me how much we have planned for 1 week at home!  I'm hoping to do some cleaning out of my room at my parents house and then once I'm in the spirit I will have to come back to Irvine and seriously purge our crap from our apartment. The joys of moving- I really hope we can stick it out in the next place for more than just 12 months!

Ode to Sam

Sam is really awesome.  I mean over the moon awesome.  Tonight, while I'm sitting here catching up on archived episodes of Parenthood online and breaking in my new hiking boots, Sam is stuck taking call at the last minute.  He carpooled with Anna, who didn't have to stay late, so I'm waiting for him to call so that I can go pick him up.  It's unreal to me how hard he works.  He's up before me (most of the time) and he gets home after me (most of the time), and sometimes he's so exhausted he doesn't even have the energy to do fun things in his free time.  I know that in the long run this will pay off for him, but in the mean time, I am so in awe of his dedication to becoming an orthopedic surgeon.  

I am so thankful that we have this time before graduation to go off on our adventure.  The partners of orthopedic surgeons (I know a few) have assured me this will be a really good break for him and an opportunity for me to be stress-free while we both prioritize having fun and living each minute to the fullest.  Until then, here's something to focus on... only 18 days until I am in Thailand!

Sam's Match Surprise

A couple of weeks ago, I invited Sam's college roommates down from Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Upland to surprise him and help him celebrate his match.  The turn out was better than I had expected it would be!  Not only did Nathan, Ryan, and Kevin make it- Drew came down from Long Beach, Pfleger made it down with Kevin, and Eric drove Ryan in for us since his car has been in the shop. We definitely surprised Sammy, and I think it was a really, really great weekend.  The boys went golfing Saturday and then we ordered in Pizza's from Gina's- one of the favorite chains in college.  After dinner, we headed down to the peninsula in Newport Beach to hit some of the bars.  All in all, it was a great night, and the foul weather held out until we managed to back home.  We squeezed six guys into the apartment in addition to Sam and myself, which is by far our largest crew yet.  

Sam was able to iron out the details of our A's v. Angel's baseball game at the end of April, so we know we'll be able to see the boys again at least once before we leave on our vacation.  And then, almost as soon as we're back, it's Sam's graduation and hopefully the boys will be able to come down for that.  

Now, Sam and I are a busy doing laundry (the last load is in the drier) and cleaning the house.   I am looking forward a quiet evening after working on the first few pages of my final paper for my online class.

Match Celebrations Continue

Yesterday was a day of acclimatization for the majority of our friends.  The initial shock of Sam matching at UCI wore off yesterday morning, and we started thinking about our next 5 years in Southern California.  It was a little overwhelming to think about all the changes that will be taking place in our life over the next three months, and we are taking it slowly as we figure out how to best accommodate Sam's impending internship schedule and make it easier for me to see my trainer on occasion. 

Last night, after we had a few of the medical students over for pizza and beer, Kev and Pfleger drove down from Santa Barbara and Nate drove down from Los Angeles to surprise Sam and help him celebrate his match.  We stayed in and caught up and Sam was so excited to spend time with the boys.

This morning, after yummy scrambled eggs, the boys hit the links to get a little game of golf in.  I stayed home so that Sam can have some time alone with the guys, and I should be working on my final paper (due a week from tomorrow).  I'm looking forward to going out on the town tonight and enjoying the company of our buddies.

Match Day 2011

Here's the video of Sam matching so you can all be a part of the moment with us

We are staying in California!

Sam and I could not be happier about staying in California close to our family and friends.

We were both expecting Sam to match at USC, so it was quite a surprise to open the envelope and see that we were staying at Irvine.  Just after match ended, the ortho department chair and one of the surgeons called Sam to welcome him to the department and tell him how excited they are to have him joining the team.  Again, we are THRILLED.

Matt, Emily, Ethan, Sam, Gianna

In another turn of GREAT NEWS: our very good friends, Matt & Emily, will also be staying at UCI for her pediatrics rotation.  We're heading to dinner with Matt's parents, sister, and brother-in-law in a few hours so it will be very fun to celebrate with them and look forward to many more years hanging out together.  

A huge thank you to our family and friends- you have been amazingly supportive throughout the journey that was medical school (and hopefully will continue to be now that we are entering this exciting new chapter of our lives). 

Marty Morris Pre-Match Party

Of the 7 orthopedics applicants from UCI this year, Sam was one of four to successfully match to a residency program.  Keeping that in mind, I am so thankful we did not have to go through the scramble process.  Dear God that would have been more than I could have taken.  Sam matching in Orthopedics is amazing regardless of what program takes him, and I am so proud of him completing this journey.  

Tonight, the medical school sponsors the Marty Morris Pre-Match Party at Sutra with funds donated to the medical school by Marty Morris.  I don't know who Dr. Morris was, but I know that he left a HEFTY sum of money to the school that can only be used for social (non academic) purposes.  The pre-match party is an annual tradition held at Sutra in Costa Mesa where medical students, their guests (1 each), and the faculty enjoy a private party to celebrate the impending match day.  It's always been a really good time, but this year seems much more poignant to me since it's the last one and it's all of my friends who are going through the match process.

Obviously it's been tough day to focus at work today since my mind is on other things.  My boss keeps insisting that I'm going to be out of SoCal soon because Sam will match to Stanford.  Unfortunately, I think it's a bit of a long shot for Sam to get into Stanford, but my fingers are crossed for him anyway.  In my heart of hearts, I really hope he matches to USC.  I haven't lived in a big city before (Moraga, Davis, then Irvine) and I feel like I'm really ready for a change.  What better time will there be to try out city living?  Plus, LA is not far from my family in NorCal and my parents have been really, really supportive and made it clear they are willing to travel to visit Sam and I regardless of where he matches.  (Thank you Mom & Dad for all your support!)

Tomorrow morning, we're planning on having a few friends over to do some pre-match mimosa drinking.  We're going to walk from our apartment to the match site since both are on campus.  After a short breakfast, students will be called to the podium to read their match location.  After matching, the 3rd year medical students throw a BBQ for the 4th years and their families and friends.  Hopefully we'll be able to come back to our apartment for a bit after lunch because I'd love to make it to the gym and take a nap before dinner with the Grants.

Calm Before The Storm

Last night Sam and I kicked off celebrating his successful match by hitting the gym before dinner. I have a very hard time sticking to healthy eating habits when I am under stress and  unfortunately that's been the status quo in the last several weeks.  After the gym, I made pancakes for dinner, and Sam and I headed over to Dan and Tina's apartment to watch a movie.  We watched Toy Story 3 (awesome film) and the majority of the film deals with how to cope with transitions- a very appropriate subject at this moment in our lives.

I turned in my take-home final for my lecture class tonight and then went to play laser tag with some of Sam's classmates.  In our first game, I ranked 8 of 33 people (the highest girl).  In the second game I only ranked 14, but it was a team game as opposed to the first game which was a free for all.

I realized this morning that today, Tuesday, is the calm before the storm.  Yesterday was the anxiety over whether Sam would match outright or not.  And tomorrow is the Marty Morris Pre-Match party thrown by the medical school.  The excitement of match will begin building tomorrow afternoon, as Sam and our friends celebrate their own class's pre-match party.  It's so insane to me how quickly the last 3.5 years have gone.  Wow.

I now have 7 boys in the living room having some beers and whiskey post laser tag and celebrating BYK's birthday.  I need to get to sleep, tomorrow is going to be a VERY long day.

Judgement Day

Sam was measured, weighed, and NOT found wanting.  He received the following email today:

"Congratulations!  You have matched."

Those in the medical field are clearly very expressive.  LOL.  I cannot speak for Sam, but I feel so relieved.  As he said while we were Skyping with his parents last night, any of the programs he ranked would be great programs to be a part of, so matching or not matching is a much bigger concern than where specifically he is going.  That said, keep your fingers crossed for Thursday- it will be here before we know it!

Fingers Crossed

A couple of important orders of business to kick off this post:

1. Happy birthday Sue!  Today is Sam's mom's birthday, and I hope she is having a great day even though we couldn't be there to celebrate with her.
2. Also, happy Spring forward!  I am not looking forward to the next few weeks of dark mornings of wanting nothing more to sleep in another hour or two.  Hopefully the longer days will be here soon and it won't be so depressing to get out of bed. 
3. Thank you to Carrie for a wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating girls night out in Long Beach last night.  Our hotel room was perfect, the comedy club was a much needed barrel of laughs, and it was so great to get away from the med school/match insanity for a little bit.

Tomorrow Sam finds out if he successfully matched to a residency program.  If he doesn’t match outright, he’ll have the option of taking a year off to do additional research and away-rotations, or "scrambling” which means contacting any ortho programs with open spots to get himself accepted into their program.  Nether of these are particularly great options so I hope and pray, for the sake of our sanity, he makes it this year.  Whether you are a spiritual person or not, it wouldn't hurt to give a shout out to whatever higher power you believe in on Sam's behalf tonight.

What to Expect When You're Matching

With only one week (YIKES) until Match Day, I have gathered as much information about what to expect as possible.  I now share this info with you:

First of all, Match Day (March 17th) is not the only day to be worried about.  Monday, March 14th, is the day that all graduating medical students find out if they did or did not match.  We will be assuming Sam successfully matches because, honestly, I am about to lose my mind from the anxiety and stress of this whole process just worrying which program he'll get into let alone if he'll get into one at all.

• Match is preceded by breakfast (I assume bagels, croissants, pastries, etc.) donated by UCI the medical school
• It takes place outside on campus, but I'm not entirely sure where
• The match results are made public across the country at 9am PST, at which point students are called one at a time in alphabetical order by last name to read their match in front of their classmates, friends, and family. 
• If you’re not the first or second person in the class you can actually log into the match website and find out where you are headed prior to stepping on the stage.  (If you, like me, wondered if Sam would do this let me put your mind to rest. Sam assured me neither he nor I will be checking the results before hand.)
• Immediately following Sam's big annoucement (which I promise I will take pictures and video of) we will call/text loved ones, so if you want to put yourself on the list please let me know.  I don't want to offend anyone who ends up reading the news on my facebook.  :-)
• Match is followed by a BBQ put on by the current 3^rd year students.

Later that evening, Sam and I are looking forward to having dinner at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Newport Beach to celebrate with our very dear friends, the Grants.  When they found out we didn’t have family coming for match day (I also just found out families/friends come to Match Day), Matt and his amazing parents extended an invitation to Sam and I to join  them for dinner.  Emily will be matching into Pediatrics, and she and her husband (both Lamorinda kids themselves) have been incredible friends to Sam and throughout the whole medical school experience so I think it's very fitting to be celebrating the end of the era with them.

The post-Vegas lack of sleep and building suspense RE: Match are a bad combination which has tensions running HIGH this week.  Not to mention, I had my final presentation for one of my classes on Tuesday and one of my group mates completely botched his portion.  It was epically bad, like the worst group presentation I have ever been a part of.  And since I spent so much time last week working on analyzing our data, this week I'm playing catch up with all my reading and also trying to fill in my take-home final.  Can't this whole Match thing just be over?  Pretty please?

We're Home!

First and foremost, happy 26th birthday to my college roommate Marlena- I hope you had a wonderful day and that this trip around the sun is a prosperous one!

After a wonderful weekend in Sin City, I am happy to be writing this from the comfort of our living room while watching Robin Hood with Sam.  We made it to Las Vegas on Friday night around 11pm.  After changing our clothes and dropping our bags off in our room at Palazzo, we met up with Sam's classmates at Lavo. 

My fabulous roommates for the weekend

It was really fun to see so many of the 4th year medical students, especially since we haven't seen some of Sam's classmates since before the holidays.  Also, Mario Lopez was partying in the VIP area of the club so that was interesting.

Saturday night, five of us had dinner at Bouchon in the Venetian.  I had the most amazing soupe a l'oignon and Sam had a great chicken dish.  I am excited to check out their sister restaurant in LA next time we are up in the area.  After dinner, we headed out to club XS in Encore.  

Tequila shots to celebrate Dan & Tina's engagement

Club XS was amazing!  I loved that it was a covered, but open air dance floor that looked out at the pool.  It was so refreshing to have adequate ventilation since so many people smoke indoors in Las Vegas.  

We also got to buy our good friends Dan and Tina tequila shots to celebrate their engagement a few weeks ago.  Dan organized the trip, and he deserves huge kudos for making sure Sam and I had a room when our previous plans fell through.  

All in all, it was a great trip with great people, and a very fitting way to celebrate the 2011 match.

Sam & I in XS on Saturday night

Waking Up In Vegas!

Sam and I are headed to Sin City this weekend! We're leaving when I get off work, so naturally it's felt as if the clocks are ticking backward today. 

We are going with a large group of the medical students, who have been going on average 4 times a year over the last 4 years.  My last trip was relatively mellow since none of us had ever been before, but this trip is going to be very different.  We'll be staying at Palazzo and tomorrow the ladies are doing some bachelorette activities for one of the girls in Sam's class.  One of my co-workers is staying in the same hotel, and my boss was teaching me the rules of Black Jack at lunch.  So I would say I'll be a little better prepared this time than I was last time. 

It's hard for me to believe that 2 weeks from today Sam and I will (hopefully) be celebrating his match and looking into when his orientation starts and trying to figure out when we're going to look for housing.  Well, realistically I will be doing that, and Sam will be recovering from the Match & St. Patrick's Day festivities.

An Exciting Start To March

I am posting this from the Irvine Kaiser Perminente ED (in real life medicine the 'ER' is really the Emergency Department). But let me start at the begining.

Sam booked our flights to Thailand and Bali today. We leave May 1st at 1:30 AM and return May 31st in the evening. We still need to figure out our travel plans to and from Cambodia but that will be cake compared to all the SCUBA and hotel arrangements. I will update the improtant dates on the sidebar ASAP.

Then,I was sitting in class when I got a call from one of Sam's teammates and a voicemail. I texted him back "Did something happen to Sam?" and Ryan texted texted "Everything is okay now." Turns out Sam took a knee to the head as the goalie took the ball and Sam hit the ground hard. There is also a laceration deep in the soft tissue inside his upper middle lip. Gross.

We're waiting for him to have a head CT, get antibiotics, have the CT cleared by the doc, and then I promised I would buy dinner. Which at this point is going to have to be whatever is still open. Think good thoughts!

Pre-Match Bad Dreams

I have never had a dream where I am in class naked, or unprepared for an exam, but this weekend I had my first match-day nightmare.

In my dream, I showed up at the auditorium (which is not even where match takes place) and Sam had already sat down with his friends without saving me a spot.  How rude!  So I am forced to go across the auditorium and sit with some random girls from his class who shall remain nameless on this blog.  Not fun.

When it came time for Sam to get up and read his match, he said, "Cox Williams" and I was filled with dread because in my dream this program was located in Ohio.  Now, let me say this, Cox Williams is a completely fictitious name, there is no such program. However, there is a Case Western in Cleveland which Sam did apply to.  So is this my subconscious trying to prepare me for the possibility that Sam will match to my least favorite of all his possible cities?  Also, why the subconscious hatred for Case Western?  I haven't ever been to Cleveland, thus I shouldn't have any negativity!

Beer, Beer, & More Beer!

Sam made three of these full of carnitas!

It was yet another busy weekend for Sam and me.  We had 12 of our friends over for shabbat dinner, which we hadn't done since Sam left for Chicago in August.  Sam made carnitas in the slow cooker all day and browned the meat in the oven before we ate.  Yummy!  But we did notice that things were pretty out of line with kosher standards- serving pork shoulder and omitting the prayers being our most offensive actions.  Sam has recently been concerned that we don't belong to a community outside of work/school.  He thinks it would be beneficial to join a temple congregation so that we have a sense of community and place.  Personally, I grew up in a family that belonged to a church, but didn't regularly attend mass because Sunday we watched football and recovered from the athletic and academic endeavors of the week.  I'm not trying to

The lovely ladies at shabbat

knock organized religion, but for me, it's more important to be spiritual than to be religious.  I appreciate the shabbat dinners because they remind me of our Family Dinners on Sunday nights in high school we got together with my dad's parents and spent time as a family.  I said I would definitely give temple a shot, but it's not something I am going to do long term unless I want to.  I see Sam's point about wanting a community, and I would love to hear some opinions as to what other people do to feel included in their communities.  Maybe we will find a few options we can try out.

In the Stone Brewery Beer Garden

On Saturday we drove down to San Diego to meet up with my very dear friend Lindsay and her boyfriend Josh.  All four of us went to the Stone Brewery and enjoyed a break in the wet weather and shared a glass of wine/beer in their beautiful beer garden.  There was no planned coordination, however Lindsay and I did a great job of matching.  We took a  tour of the brewery, which included a quick brewing 101 lesson from our tour guide and a tasting of Stone's Pale Ale, IPA, Levitation, and Arrogant Bastard.  It was very cool, but I realized that most of the Stone beers are a little too bitter for my personal taste.  Josh took us to dinner in San Diego at Karl Strauss, 

In the Stone brewhouse with the kegs

another SoCal brewery.  Man, was their food delicious.  Linds had a steak topped with gruyere cheese and roasted garlic cloves: ah-mazing!  Josh had the traditional mac 'n cheese and I tried the Tree Hugger Mac (with broccoli and roasted peppers), and Sam had a jalepeno cheeseburger with garlic fries.  I seriously have not been that impressed with mac 'n cheese since my birthday dinner at The Neighborhood in San Diego.

Today we get a surprise visit from Nate, which is great, and I can't wait to hear how things up at USC's dental school have been going.  And then the Oscars are on later tonight- woohoo!  I just have to read three chapters, make Sam's yearbook page, hit the gym, and do my laundry before I can sit down with a bowl of Kettle Corn and watch the show.  LOL.

All I do is win win win no matter what!

Wow, in three weeks the destination of Sam's future (aka our future) will be known.  I would be flipping out right now if not for loads of homework and other activities keeping my mind occupied... oh yeah, and work.

Tonight's fun adventures were my Thursday night spin class (my favorite exercise class of the week), and Sam's playoff soccer game.  Sam has been playing intramural soccer all four years of medical school.  Prior to me taking classes with the UCI extensions program I would cut oranges and bring juice boxes for the boys, not so much this year.  In fact, my class conflicts with Sam's weekly game (yes my class is at fault, that is how I roll) so this was my first game of the season.

Luckily I had some company on the sidelines, and after a TOUGH game, the medical students were victorious.  It was a little strange though, some of the boys on Sam's team looked like they were in high school.  Turns out they are first year medical students... wow how the time has flown.  I still remember how old the fourth years seemed to me when Sam was a first year.  

Just for fun, here's a photo from tonight of the guys who started  in the fall of '07 and played all the way through together.

In the Hands of the Ortho Gods

Sam certified his residency program Rank List today.  This means his ranked order of orthopedics programs has been submitted to the 2011 Match, and his fate is in the hands of the orthopedic surgery Gods.  Of course, it's really my fate is too, but I like to remove myself from the equation for the sake of my sanity.

I have tried very hard to remain neutral during the whole medical school process- I feel I am incredibly unqualified to make decisions which will hugely affect Sam's career- but I have always been honest about wanting to stay in California where we are closer to our family and friends.  Aside from those selfish feelings, I firmly believe Sam should rank programs according to where he wants to go and what is best for him.  My thinking  is based on easy math, people:

The happier Sam is at work = the happier Sam is at home = the easier Sam is to live with.

Luckily for me, after all Sam's thinking, his top 3 residency programs are all in California!  Hopefully we will match to one of the top two. Fingers crossed! If not, life will go on, possibly with a whole new wardrobe fit for cold, snowy winters.

The Beginning of the End

I have gotten really interested in blogs lately.  I like to read blogs from people I know as well as strangers.  I enjoy hearing about and seeing photos from my friend's vacations as they trek through Southeast Asia and live abroad in New Zealand, or move across the country as newlyweds.


I never thought I would blog myself, because what do I have to say that is of importance?  I definitely believe my generation is very much self-obsessed and absorbed.  But I also wanted to keep in touch with family and friends through this very exciting (read: stressful) residency match process, as well as while on vacation in May, and during the process of moving to a location TBD after Sam's graduation in June.


My girlfriend who blogged her Southeast Asian vacation also told me that blogging is a great way of keeping record of what you've done.  It's fun to go back and re-read your posts and see the comments your friends posted.  As an obsessive scrap booker and journal writer, this really appeals to me.  I can share my thoughts and experiences with all those people who care to read them easily and quickly while making a record for myself to enjoy years from now when I'm more calm and collected and removed from the whirlwind that will be the next 4 months.


Getting ready to find out where Sam has matched for residency (aka where we are moving in June) the lyrics, "I need a change from this burn out scene, another time, another town, another everything," keep running through my head.  I've realized that when it comes to major life changes I only have senioritis for so long before I get into planning mode.  Unfortunately Sam is a chronic sufferer of senioritis and he will probably be feeling it well after he has transitioned into his residency.  Right now, I'm starting to panic and want to secure housing, employment, a social network, etc.  I'm trying to remind myself to live in the here and now, but it's easy to get overwhelmed by the thought of possibly buying a house, and a new car, and not having a secure job.


Most of the time, I feel like I'm finally ready to face the world and whatever it may bring me.  Other times, not knowing where we are going to be is killing me.