Wheat thins and Goldfish!

Mom!
Thanks for the wheat thins and the Goldfish... we loved them. The ladies of the porch (Holly and I) shared the wheat thins with the ladies of the hallway (MG, Jes, and Janelle). We all loved them! We just want you to know, you brought cheer to our night, it was like a little porch/hallway party!

Love,
Sarah, Holly, Michelle, Jes, Janelle!

Holly and the whole bag!


Michelle (in the front) and Jes with their wheat thins!
(Janelle was... somewhere...)

Pictures!!

Back Row L-R: Naomi, Michelle, Bethany, Medea, Holly, Jes, Jordan
Front Row L-R: Janelle, Jenn, Stephanie, Serena, Me~

So... The all of the girls in my year went for a picture a couple of weeks ago... And, while we are a fine looking bunch, we are not THIS fine... They photoshopped our blemishes, they photoshopped our hair, they photoshopped our teeth, they photoshopped shine onto our lips, they photoshopped the freckles right off Holly! So, we went to get our picture taken, and we were in this little tiny studio... think, hmm, a large handicapped bathroom. And 12 girls, plus 1 photographer, 1 weird guy looking on, and 1 creepy guy hiding behind a curtain and we didn't even know he was there until we wanted to change... Anyway, so at one point, for a pose we were doing some laying on the floor, and we hear this banging noise, and we see this big background screen falling toward us! yikes!! SO we screamed, and there was some rolling out of the way... and it was pretty much hilarious. It didn't end up falling, and we were all ok, but it scared us a bit! Anyway, so we got to pick 7 out of the... lots... that he took, and it was really fun! My favorite is the "supported squat" picture... leave it to us to have a professional supported squat picture, and then to pay money to have it printed! Ha! I hope you enjoy our pictures!! We certainly enjoyed having them taken!

Supported Squat!

And apparently we all didn't get the same... "make a funny face" memo... oh well :-)

IV class... results...

Oh boy! well, it's over! We all did it! It was an emotion-filled afternoon... Apparently we were much more emotional than our predecessors.... HA HA HA... so I started off the crying party... but anyway... Just to give you an idea of my level of apprehension; before class started my pulse was 60, normal for me... when it was time for me to poke my partner, Jenn (who is SO gracious)... my pulse was 120... which is nothing compared to hers, which was 140. We were both a bit nervous, apparently. I was SO nervous to poke her, that I burst into tears, at which point everyone started laughing and taking pictures. BUT, they laughed too soon, because before too long, they were all crying too! There was crying, laughing, fainting, almost fainting... it was quite the adventure! But, in the end, we all got our IVs in, and running! Yay for us! Here are some pictures from the excitement! The picture of Holly pretty much says it all. :-) Have a great day, everyone!

Me trying to make a nervous face while I was sobbing... oh boy...

After I stopped crying, in the 10 minutes I stood there trying to get up the nerve to poke her... meanwhile, her hand turns black....

I got it in, but I was SOOO nervous to let her drop her hand, for fear that the thing might stop running and I would have to do it all again.

A lovely face I was making during my second poke... that one really hurt... :-)

IVs....

So I knew this day would come... tomorrow, actually... sigh... It's IV class... the one where I have to start an IV in a poor unsuspecting classmate... The problem is... when it's a medical emergency (or whatever....) I don't feel like I would have a problem... but these are my friends... I like them... they are fine. They don't need me to stab them with a honking needle, and stick a tiny tube into their body... ish... why do we have to practice these things on each other... can we just go back to the catheterizing class and the pelvimitry one.... sigh... The thing I am most nervous about is, most of the girls have already done it... just me... and I think one other haven't... sigh. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tan-Ton comes to Mercy...

It all started on a very dead shift... :-) MG and I were diligently doing our homework... and before we know it the supervisors decide it is time for massages... :-) There is this sweet place here called tan-ton and it is a Thai massage place that gives really great massages for 5 dollars/hour. And after a busy shift, leaning over beds, holding up women, supporting... Midwives appreciate good massages. And so many of the Mercy midwives (white and Filipina both) frequent this place. I have only been twice, but I can easily recognize the massage when I see it :-). So one of the supervisors who was not on duty was chatting with the Filipinas on shift... and decided to "Tan-Ton" Ate Ermie! Here are some pictures from that... Also, the one at the top is a picture of me and MG back in the day on our VERY FIRST birth room shift!!! Crazy to think that it has only been a few months! Thank you guys for all your prayers. I have been really struggling. But God is faithful, as He always is. I know God brought me here for a reason, and I will be faithful to complete the task He has called me to. Right now I am in the middle of a MASSIVE assignment. It's going well. I am on cooking again next week (I was last week too! yikes!). This assignment is due... Wednesday. And it's pretty much crazy as usual at MMC. there were surprise twins born at the clinic. We do not normally deliver twins at Mercy because of different protocols and complications and whatnot, but this lady came in and had her baby and then surprise! another!! :-) So these two little (famous) girls are staying with one of the lactating midwives while their mother is in the hospital. Very exciting!! Anyway, back to work!! Enjoy the "tan-ton" pictures!!!

Oh Boy...

This has been a very hard week and a half for me... God has been really using a lot of circumstances to make me look more like Him. It has been hard. It is still hard. But God is faithful.

Psalm 57

Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
for my soul takes refuge in you;
and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by
I will cry to God Most High,
to God who accomplishes all things for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches him who tramples upon me.
God will send forth His loving kindness and His truth.
.....
Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth
....
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
Awake, my glory!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your loving kindness is great to the heavens
and Your truth to the clouds.
Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth!!

Lecture, semester exam, 6 baby checks, cooking, etc.

So this week is a bit different. We are having a series of lectures by a local doctor. They are all about how to do physical examinations on all the systems of the body. It's pretty interesting despite the fact that I keep yawning through the whole thing... We have turned in to hotter season... maybe? Anyway, it's been hotter this week, and my asthma has been giving me a little bit of trouble...

We also took a big exam covering the whole semester of learning... so the past 6 months... yikes. It was good. I did well, and so did Holly! Yay! Today was prenatals and I had 6 baby checks!! Yikes. I had 4 that were 3 weeks old, and 1 that was 1 week, and one that was 6 weeks. Basically, it was all the babies I have caught in the past 6 weeks! ;-) They were mostly older because I haven't caught any babies recently... only one since the 19th of February. So... they all came today, and they were mostly on time... and it was fun to have a baby check party. All the girls were comparing babies, and weights, I brought 4 of them to the scale at the same time, and recorded all their weights, and they were so cute about comparing how big their babies were... One said, wow, yours is big, how often do you breastfeed!?!?! Ha ha ha, it was pretty much hilarious..

Also... this week I'm on the cooking team. With my fellow house mates Jenna and Jes. And we are having a grand old time cooking for the girls of the orange house. Our dinner menu this week consisted of:
Monday: Meatloaf, rice, and mixed greens (cooked)
Tuesday: Meatball subs (and something else probably, I was working)
Wednesday: Chicken and rice and cabbage and cucumber salad (it was a GREAT meal!!) and for dessert... that white chocolate stuff with the dark chocolate sauce (auntie Angel, if you are reading this... it was a HUGE hit!!)
Thursday: we had Jenna's moms pasta dish with squash and garlic bread
Friday: we are going to have breakfast for dinner.

Yum yum! So that was our menu for this week in the orange house... in case you were wondering what we eat. some weeks we eat more traditional food from the Philippines, a lot of curries, and most of the girls have traveled a lot, so we get tastes from all over the world! It's really grand!!

So... to wrap up this totally random blog... tomorrow I will go to the market early... it will be great! And then we will have veggies and fruits!! yay! Have a great weekend, everyone!!

~S