M A K I N G L I F E S I M P L E: Time Flies

I hadn't realized how long it had been since our last update until I got this semi-threatening e-mail from Kathleen tonight:

Hey!
I hope things are going well in South Carolina. I've been stalking your
blog, but no updates :(

(If you knew her you'd understand what that seemingly innocent sentence really means.)

Anyway, work started this past week so of course the days went by pretty fast. My second 12-hr shift was pretty difficult because I didn't sleep well the previous two nights.. I honestly thought I was going to die during it. Blegh. Happy thoughts, though! I found out my preceptor is 11-days younger than me and that made me feel (1) old, (2) pathetic, (3) awkward. She's really nice though and I'm debating whether or not I should add her on Facebook. I don't want to seem like a major lurker (even though I am). Our patient/nurse ratio is 4:1, which is really great. Everyone is still really nice, just a different attitude than those that I've encountered in the hospitals I've done clinical at. I think I may have mentioned before how HUGE the hospital campus is. Well, it's HUGE. I'm thinking on one of my days off I'll take my camera down there to show you all the place.

Besides work, David has been wearing me out in a physical sense. I'm not used to so much exercise on a consistent basis and this weekend's bike ride kind of proved to both of us that we need to really work on my endurance and decrease the intensity for now. There is a wonderful Riverfront Park (for those of you who don't know - Columbia sits at the juncture of three rivers) that we rode our bikes to on Saturday. This was the first time really "riding" my new bike and, dude, I was so freaking out. I had a breakdown as we made our way through USC's BEAUTIFUL campus because everything was zooming by so so so sooo fast and I wasn't braking as easily as I wanted to. Anyway, David talked me down, as usual, and we successfully made it to the park and had a really nice ride along the canal. Biking in SC isn't the same as FL. You don't realize how flat Florida is until you move away and experience true inclines; the smallest degree up or down is easily detectable. With that said, on our way back, I felt like I was dying. We stopped at Mellow Mushroom to refuel, and by the time we made it to my apartment I felt like passing out. I don't know what happened physiologically with my body, but I definitely think I was experiencing some form of heat exhaustion. Later that night we went to Miriam & Glen's house to grill out and play games... I was super feverish and had all of these flu-like symptoms. Aye yi yi. WHATEVS. We had a lot of fun, and I want to go back when I'm not feeling so tired/sick. I'm not used to feeling like this - thus the fact that I need to slow down and take a breather (which is why I didn't play Ultimate this afternoon).

I absolutely love it up here. I really need to take a day for photos so you all can see the history and beauty..maybe tomorrow? In the meantime, here are some photos to hold you over, Kathleen [almost all photos by David]:

Friday night -- Game Night @ Jessie's

This is Reid. He cracks me UP! Seriously. So funny. (And he's single ladiessss)