Chicago

So this last weekend, Nate and I decided to take a last minute trip to Chicago. The main event was to go see Edward Sharpe and the magnetic zeros at the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues festival ( Winter addition). We get in on Saturday and check in at the hotel- our first concern was getting something to eat and then heading over to the festival at the Congress Theatre.

We made reservations at "The Gage" down off of South Michigan. It was a gastropub with a quite impressive list of beers, whiskey, wine, scotch and cocktails. In true fashion, we ate and drank like we were on vacation.
Nate had the heart attack on a Kaiser roll aka Pork Belly and grease sandwich. I tried the Briskett sandwich. We also had a side order of curry gravy- which I'm not one to usually need dip for french fries, but this stuff was delicious! And how could I forget, we started everything off with some delicious beers and a scotch egg.

We decided that it was still kind of early to get to the concert so we walked around Chicago for a little bit and found ourselves in a handmade soap store- kind of weird selection but ok. We had our smell of soaps and Nate bought the last needed component to be able to start shaving with his old school shaving blade- something called strap which I had never heard of. We then left and it started to get really windy and snow on us, so we decided to hail a cab and head over to the Congress Theatre.

The theatre itself was really need but really run down. Nate and I also found ourselves surrounded by hippies, hula hoops, and a brass marching band- it's quite a story that we'll have to tell sometime. We even got to witness a crazy man with track pants and a mesh shirt, attack other hula-hoopers by thrusting his hips and therefore his hula-hoop at them- quite a site.

We heard some good bands and some not so good bands, but the Magic hat #9 on tap that they were selling made it all better :)
Hours later and a short nap - I'm sorry but traveling really takes it out of you and what else are husband's shoulders for??- Grace Potter and the Nocturnals came out. She had quite and amazing voice and it was fun to watch. But I was really excited for Edward Sharpe and the magnetic zeros. We only stayed for 45 min of their 90 min set, but after they played "Home" that was all I needed to see. You felt like you when in a different place with everybody singing along and jumping to the chorus- it was unreal.

The weekend was fun, but it is nice to be home and get settle in for a few weeks before the holidays :)

Dr. Hagemann?

So last week when my husband was gone on business, I had a lot of time to myself and my thoughts.
I've always had this dream to become a doctor but I guess you could say that I've never had the total guts to follow through. Honestly, I think after training and running my first half marathon, I feel I can do anything as long as I give it my full attention and commitment.

I decided that I'm willing to put in the work and try to get into Medical School- The University of Kansas Medical School to be exact.

They take about 145 students a year, with about 500 applications. They can mostly students that have ties to Kansas- around 100-120 of their students are from Kansas or went to school in Kansas.

I've been taking classes in upper level biology at KU's Edwards Campus starting this past summer. Funny thing, when I looked at all of the classes that I needed to take ( and a few that I'm going to retake), everything fit into my schedule perfectly; like it was ment to be. Before when I looked at UMKC to see if they had Organic Chem and Physics in the evenings, they didn't. After I decided I wanted to give this a try, and realized that I would need to retake these classes (since it has been so long and I'll need that information for the MCAT) I saw that they now offer Evening classes and labs in the off semesters- so they have Org 1 and Physcis 1 evening classes in the Spring and Org 2 and Physcis 2 in the fall. Pefect!

I mapped out a 4-5 year plan. This of course included all of the classes I was going to take- I always enjoyed putting together my school schedule- as well as a financial plan, family plan etc.

• one of Nate's concerns as well as mine was that we want to start a family fairly soon, so this gives us time to have a baby and it to be a few years old before I would go back to school
• I was already working on this, but I'm going to put us on a budget to save some money. My big idea was that any raises and promtions I get ( I'll have a nice one in the next year or 2) will go right into savings and we will maintain living off the income that we currently do now. I've also recently got a job on the weekends PRN working as a CNA at the hospital my mom works at. So all of that income will go directly into savings.
• We will have time to get the upstairs done and start working on improvements outside- i.e. a deck and working garage.
• This will be a better arrangement because I'll be able to live at home and go to school- at least for the first 2 years- instead of before when I was planning on going to PA school I was going to have to live with his parents for 2 years while he stayed in KC and we visited on the weekends.

All in all, I feel less stressed about this plan because it still allows us to pursue some other interests/wants and not just school.

I'm pretty excited though! I signed up to attend an Open House of the Medical School in January- maybe it is a little too early to really do that since I won't be applying until 2014- but I think it will help with the motivation and hard work I have in front of me.

I really feel like everything is falling into place nicely- like fate :)

Busy Girl

A lot of people comment on how busy I am. All I really have to say to that is that I like to try new things and fully commit to them, at least for awhile. My newest adventure is following in my baby sister's footsteps. I've decided to train for a Women's Figure Competition in April. I figure, I've already ran a 1/2 marathon, I can do this no problem.

My friend Julila was the one that really pushed me over the edge and got me to agree to train for this show. She had decided she was going to do it and hired trainers. She was going to start working out at our Work Campus gyms in the morning and wanted me to come with her, so right then and there I decided if I was going to be putting in the work, I might has well have something to work towards.

Emely has been training me and I've been following ( sort of) the diet that she does. I'm not sure if my body really likes it too well. It goes something like this:
Breakfast
2 eggs
4 eggwhits
1/2 cup of dry rolled Oats
1/2 cup of blueberries
1 packet of Stevia
1 mug of coffee

Morning Snack
1 can of Tuna fish
1 tablespoon of dijion mustard
1 apple

Lunch
5-6 oz of meat ( Poultry, fish, shrimp)
1 4oz sweet potato
tons of dark green veggies

Afternoon Snack
Protein Shake w/ water ( can have some almond milk in if I like)
1 tablespoon of peanut butter

Dinner
6 oz of meat (Poultry, Fish, Shrimp)
1/2 a plate of dark green veggies

Late Snack
5 oz of fish or a protein shake

I've been playing with this diet plan since I don't have to be terrible "strict" right now. But I'm supposed to hit about 1500 calories, 50 grams of fat, 116 carbs, and 160 grams of Protein. I'm also supposed to restrict my sugar ( not eating anything of 6 grams in a serving). I get 1 cheat meal a week ( can't go over 1500 calories) and can eat whatever I want. Last week I wanted  a RootBeer Float.... I'm not sure why since I haven't had one since I was 5, but it sounded really good.

My workout are the following:
Cardio for 45 min, 5x a week at least

I lift 5-6 days a week, a different "area" each day with  4-5 different exercises at 4 sets of 12-15 reps.
Monday - Chest. 4-5
Tuesday- Legs heavy day
Wedneday- Arms
Thursday - shoulders
Friday - back/legs

I've been at it for about 3 weeks now. I've been getting up at 4:25am during the work week to work out with Julia at 5am for the past week and a half. I'm finally starting to get used to waking up at that time. Although it is really starting to take a toll on what I do when I get home. Instead of studying for an hour or two each night, I come home and : eat, veggie out in front of the TV with the hubs, pack my bags for the next morning, and go to bed. I guess you can say I'm still getting used to this new lifestyle.

I'll keep you posted on the workouts. I think I'm going to post some before and after pictures too- and track my progress.