what is "free time"?!

It's fall break and I don't really know what to do with all this free time! It feels a little strange to actually have time to do everything I want and need to do. Sadly I couldn't fly home for the break, so I've just been lounging...catching up on The Office, cleaning, cooking....I'd love to go do something outdoors but unfortunately the weather is icky here, a high of 40 and no sun - figures!

I started the break by visiting my senior mentor in equine surgery on Friday. During undergrad I observed Dr. Privette float teeth once, and that is literally the extent of my experience with horses. So I'll admit that I wasn't particularly excited to hang around in equine, but I actually had a blast! Going into the clinic is really refreshing to me - when I start to feel like what I'm learning is pointless, or feeling like I haven't learned that much, hanging out in the clinic reminds me of how important it all is, and reminds me that I do have a pretty large knowledge base already. When I first arrived, one of the doctors did a short case challenge on septic synovial joints, and then my senior took me to check out his patients. He explained a lot about lameness, what may cause it, symptoms, and how to treat it, mentioning a lot of the things I've learned in all of my classes. Also learned a ton about nerve blocking, which amazes me [and made me realize that I really need to go back and learn nerve innervation a little better], and saw an ultrasound on the leg of one of the horses. I am seriously so excited to a veterinarian :)

As much as I'd love to spend this week vegging out and not crack open my school laptop, I have to be realistic. I have a lit assignment due this week and I need to prepare for the weeks ahead - it's going to be a little brutal. Honestly, this semester hasn't been that stressful. However, I have live dog quizzes and a physiology exam next week,, the week after that I have three exams, and then finals the next week. So slacking off this week will only make things worse! Doing a little each day isn't so bad, and it's good to exercise the brain instead of letting it turn to mush :)

Lastly, thought I'd share the recipe to the spinach ravioli lasagna I made today :)

Ingredients:

6 ounces of fresh baby spinach

1/3 cup of pesto sauce

15 ounces of alfredo sauce (I just used a white sauce)

1/4 cup of vegetable broth

20 ounces of cheese ravioli

1 cup of Italian style cheese

Basil or Italian spice blend, parsley (to taste)

Chop up the spinach...

...and toss it with the pesto sauce.

Mix the vegetable broth with the alfredo sauce.

Spread 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a lightly greased pan .

Spread 1/2 of the spinach mixture on top... 

...and 1/2 of the pasta on top of that. 

Repeat those layers (spinach, pasta) and top with the remaining sauce mixture. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes!

While waiting, I tossed the cheese with the basil. After the 30 minutes is up, place the cheese on top of the lasagna and bake for 5 more minutes.

Wah-lah!

Honestly it turned a little salty for my taste, so I'd recommend a low sodium alfredo sauce and maybe a little less pesto sauce. But still delicious!

Time flies when you're having "fun"

Rhyley and I are about to head out for some birthday adventures (she turned 5 today!), but I wanted to get in a quick post beforehand since it's been way too long!

This semester is literally flying by, I can't believe we only have 5 weeks until finals (and one of those is thanksgiving break!). I'm loving school, but I'm ready to go home and see my friends and family. I miss them so much :( In relation to that, the past few weeks have been really rough, but I'm finally feeling like myself again. I'm just ready to kick the rest of this semester's butt!

Near the end of October I attended the early admit induction ceremony, where I met my freshman mentee! She's awesome, and I'm really excited to help her throughout her undergrad career. She is supposed to be joining me tomorrow in anatomy lab, which I hope will be exciting for her since we're working on the detached head of the dog!

I've also joined the intramural CVM volleyball team, both co-rec and women's! I've had a blast so far (even though I've only played two games) but it's really great to get on the court and play! I'm no pro...but it's one of my favorite things to do. It doesn't hurt that my teammates are awesome!

On another note, this past week was BRUTAL - I procrastinated way too much in Anatomy and basically had to learn the entire forelimb/hindlimb vasculature and nerve plexuses, the entire abdomen (including vasculature), male and female repro anatomy, plus all of the lecture material. Somehow I made it through; I haven't gotten my lab grade yet, but I'm satisfied with my lecture grades. So far I've managed to keep my goal of getting nothing lower than a B...let's hope that continues!

This weekend has been super productive - I did a deep clean of the entire apartment on Friday (it looks "beautimous"...hahaha), ran a ton of errands yesterday (all done before noon!), and today I gave Rhyley her birthday "cake" and gifts, ran a few more errands, and finished up my scheduled school work. Now I can relax for the rest of the day and spend some time with Rhyley, then kick some butt on the v-ball court tonight!

And I must add that I felt my first earthquake last night! (Yep, felt nothing in California, haha). I was getting in bed to go to sleep, and the entire thing was shaking back and forth...I was convinced there was a ghost in my apartment, and even called my mom freaked out about it hahah. I got out of the bed and still felt something weird, probably because my apartment was trembling! I'm pretty sure Rhyley felt it too, she was acting really strange. Then I find out this morning there was a pretty big earthquake in Oklahoma! So crazy!

Time to go spend the rest of the day with the birthday girl :)