Life in L.A.

2011-03-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

ophelia and grapefruit

2011-01-17T08:49:00.000-08:00

Ophelia discovered grapefruit, she is almost 1 yr old...

she is also going through a major mobility growth spurt, this weeks fave is opening a drawer, clearing out whatever she needs to and climbing in. she also loves her pic/video being taken, and as soon as she sees someone with a camera she runs over to them so she can see herself. she is almost a year, but still wearing some 6 month clothes and is almost 16 lbs... just a little bit of a thing. I am such a proud auntie!

baby O

2010-02-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

She looks drunk (off of milk that is)

I swear she positioned herself...

Ophelia Marie Lorenzo

2010-02-07T20:28:00.001-08:00

My sister liz had her baby this weekend and named her ophelia marie. she was a whole 6 lbs and 5 ounces and 18 inches. It was love at first sight for me!

learning to shoot a gun

2010-02-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

last weekend dave took me to a shooting range and taught me how to shoot a gun. I have to say it was over all fun but very nerve racking... I probably wont be doing this again anytime soon but still I think it is at least a good idea knowing the basics of how to shoot...

I love how serious he looks.

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seattle

2010-01-22T19:18:00.001-08:00

Allison requested a post so here you go! I have now moved to seattle and started working at University of washington medical center as a CRNA (nurse anesthetist). So far so good. Just getting used to working and being a bit more responsible. But I have gotten to do some great cases and I have come to the conclusion that UW is full of sick 80 yr olds that are getting big surgery. That makes me a little stressed but I am getting more used to it...

I love love love my apartment. I live in the northern part of downtown called belltown. I can walk to tons of different places, its close to work, I have floor to ceiling windows that face the puget sound. Pretty much awesome.

My bedroom with a cat posing for you

Kitchen view

And view from my windows

And my cute boyfriend Dave that lives in LA doing his anesthesia residency. I know what you are all thinking...that we are super cool anesthesia nerds, and ya we are. We are doing long distance, which sucks that I don't get to see him everyday anymore, but is only a 2 hr flight away! Plus that way I still get to see Allison and her adorable girls and see a little sun...turns out that it rains a lot here!

Come on USC

2009-11-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

I finally went to a USC football game yesterday. and they lost. big time. in fact I think they lost the most amount of points in school history! Seriously? They go from #1 to this... the ONE time I go? Hmm it was actually still a lot of fun!

Last weekend we went to the horse races and actually made some money. Apparently it was big race and it was the first time a female horse has won this crown. I didnt really know much about horse races, but I like it cause you can bet like $1. That is my kind of betting!

officially a CRNA

2009-10-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

I have finally graduated, and passed my certification boards so I am now officially a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)! YAH! now onto seattle....and make some money!

I love allison and her girls!

2009-08-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

I love Allison and that she includes me in her family outings, Sunday dinners, ect. Also I love her little babes. It is pure laughs every time I see them. My favorite line from yesterday was liv... "cooomme ooon FARN, lets go!" (she wanted to play mermaids in the water...). Thanks for being such a great friend allison!

my patient today

2009-05-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

this was my patients heart today, getting an aortic valve replacement. sorry if you get grossed out.

graduation, sort of

2009-05-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

This tuesday was my graduation, sort of. its not really until Aug, but this was the cap and gown part, so martha and bobby came out. and dont worry, they cleaned my entire apartment, down to moving furniture to clean underneath! they should come out more often!

guatemala

2009-04-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

This past week I was able to go to guatemala to do a medical mission. In 4 1/2 days we did 113 surgeries, saw 1000 patients in the clinic and I think 300 dental patients. We were serving the people of HueHuetenago. (a little city in the northern part of guatemala) Many of the people are actually mayan and dont speak the same spanish so it made things somewhat interesting... Its hard to describe how many people were there. the base that we stayed at had no hot water, we slept in one large room on a cot and sleeping bags, and came home with 14 spider bites and laryngitis! I think this was the most amazing thing I have ever done. It was so rewarding. they were so thankful.

So first we flew into guatemala city and drove four hours (up a windy pot-holed road) to a place called solola where we got to stay the night in an actual hotel with beds and showers and everything.

Guatemala military escorted us from guatemala city, to solola, and after another fours hours on a bus to huehuetenago

When we got to the military base on sunday afternoon in hue hue there were already people lining up waiting for us. Many of the people have never or will never see a doctor or have a chance to have the surgery that they need. A lot of them walked for 2-3 days to make it to us. so the clinic started seeing patients right away!

We began unpacking and making empty rooms into operating rooms. we brought in all of our own supplies and medications. there was no air conditioning and my room was so hot. the little babies had fevers of 102 degrees despite me keeping cold wet rags on them during surgery.

I also had to learn to make do with the most basic anesthesia machine. there was no ventilator on this, just anesthetic gas and oxygen so I had to squeeze the bag to ventilate the patient. we started cases mon 730 am and worked til 1 am. the next day 7-midnight, and so on for the rest of the week. this means that i was squeezing this bag constantly that whole time. my arm actually got sore!

This little girl had a cleft lip. If this were to go unfixed, she would never be married.

This little boy was 6 years old but was the size of a three year old. he needed a cleft palate repair because whenever he ate the food would go through the whole and into his nose, which in addition to poor nutrition is the reason he is so small. he was also the dirtiest little kid. a lot of them dont have running water so they are quite dirty. most homes are one room, and dont have a stove so they cook over an open flame. this little one even had dirt impedded under his nails.

I love his little broken boots

me putting a 10 yr old to sleep, who also got a cleft palate repair

and now just random pics

funny story

2008-11-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

so... funny story...
To make my very long drives more more enjoyable, I have begun listening to books on tape, and it totally rocks. so yesterday, i was sitting at the light, listening to the shopaholic series (very good books by the way), and the character becky was describing these shoes that she HAD to have, and as I sat there listening and thinking that there were times that I HAD to have some shoes, and they sounded so pretty, that I didnt realize I had taken my foot off the brake was rolling, nor did I hear the girl honking behind me, and when i felt this crash behind me, i couldn't believe she had hit me!...that was until I realized there was a lot of new space between me and the car in front of me... but she was cool and didn't care. i couldn't help it, the shoes sounded so pretty...

gotta love the bentleys

2008-09-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

so I was able to make it home this past weekend and actually got to see both bentley babes. I love those girls...only the bentleys would bring their 96 yr old grandma out on a friday night to 3 different artshows carting around her wheelchair, walker, and cane. plus take her to the fashion walk where i have to say were some odd people... and only the bentleys grandma would absolutely love it! pictured below is some guy walking around on stilts dressed up like an elephant with roselle, the 96 yr old grandma in her wheelchair!

My new place

2008-09-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

I know I know, it has been way too long since my last blog, but there has been no real blog worthy material... same old... working in the hospital doing anesthesia... however I have recently moved since my old roommate graduated and is now on her way back up to seattle, I was forced to changed my living situation. Luckily for me, my sister liz's husband's grandma lives in a little gated community in rolling hills estates, oh and she just so happens to have a little guest house for me to live in for FREE! So here are a couple of pics of the new place, it feels like a little cottage. It is so quite at night, I can hear the chirping of little creatures again. It is so secluded that it can be a little lonesome sometimes, luckily I am busy enough that it doesnt last too long. there is also a horse and a donkey that live behind me (featured below) and it has an awesome view that overlooks the city!

ode to juno

2008-04-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you all know that Juno is out on video! I love this movie and I love that vonnie not only cried during this movie, but sobbed! I went and saw it with my beautiful girls vonnie, lizzy, and lindsey tingey, and after it is over lizzy turns to me and asks if i cried, and i was like ya, i had a tear and lindsey was like ya i had a tear too, then we all look over and vonnie, and she is sobbing, like face swollen almost has the sobbing hiccups. love it. good times. i miss you guys...

Sarahs visit

2008-02-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

My good sis, sarah came to visit, and it was oh so nice! we went to six flags, which was so fun! yet random... we decided to go last minute, and than one line we had to stand in line for about an hour and a half, which wouldn't have been too bad except we stood next two these two random guys, one was termite killer, total meat head and kept telling us how much money he made as a bug killer, the other one was this guy about my age with long curly hair who apparently drove across the country to meet the meat head friend(they had talked online, but never met...) you are thinking gay couple right? but no, meat head was married. it was a very long hour and a half! so we got on the ride before they did, so they asked for our number, and sarah gave hers to them! she is not used to having to say no. so anyways we are eating lunch and they call so we don't answer and than a few min later the curly haired boy walks by, picks up a piece of food off my plate, and eats it! so throughout the day they called another time, and we ran into them 2 more times...wierd huh? We also went searching for some stars, looked at expensive clothes on rodeo drive, and got sarah to cook for me! I am so sad to see her go!

2008-02-01T16:28:00.000-08:00

sorry team I have been a bit busy... so here is a quick update...umm lets see, I now have class only two days a week, and the other three clinical. This means on tues, I go to class, than go the hospital pick up my preops for the next day, oh don't worry I have to call my CRNA and attending with our patients info and anesthetic plan, do a writeup on each case...than wake up at 4:20 am to be at the hospital by 5:30, do my cases, get my cases for the next day, write them up, call my attending and CRNA, and by, say 9:30 go to bed. I do ususally give myself 30min when I get home to check my email and eat so that is nice... but I did place my first spinal and arterial line! Which may not mean a whole to everyone, but I am very excited!

For Vonnie

2008-01-16T14:52:00.000-08:00

Vonnie requested a post with pictures of my kitties...so here they are just for you! Birdie and alta (or toid is his nickname). Birdie the torte (brown and black) is only about 9 lbs, so yes the rest of that is pure fluff! but don't worry I get them shaved, which seriously decreases the hair situation. The only problem is, is that toid gets cold without his hair and I find him in all sorts of places, bed, blankets, drawers. Birdie also has a habit of going in any cupboard or drawer that is open and then getting stuck. Like one day I came home and heard her crying, well after searching the apartment, I opened my dresser drawer, and there was the little bird!

Umm, so I chopped off my hair! What do you think?

2008-01-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

CANCUN!!

2007-12-28T12:06:00.001-08:00

We had a great time in cancun. robby, who is super super white, didn't believe me when i told him to put on sunscreen and got bright pink, and we layed out, the family scuba dived ( i made snorkel as the spanish instructor said), and ate way way too much. my dad of course worked...he never leaves his computer. i told him is was against the rules but he said he was thoroughly enjoying himself. my mom made friends with one of the old waiters and he built her this pretty glued piece together shells, which my dad than kneeled down in the sand to get this pic. we went to cozamel one day so that they could dive, and we had to take a ferry over, which i threw up on it was so bad, but cozamel was cool. and than we went and saw the mayan ruins. also very cool. it was hot and sunny, and seriously humid.

Yes, the mound under the blankets was me...it was like 5am!

after finals party!

2007-12-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

Well after a very hard semester, my classmates and I had a great party where we drank and let loose!

finals

2007-12-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry team, I have been a bit busy and have not been a great blogger... these are pics of the last few days of 2 weeks serious studying. It is really sad when kelly and I got kicked out of our study room (was too late) and the only place to sit and study besides the floor was the sauna in the women's locker room. I liked it. it was warm. than we took a couple of wierd pics since we had been studing too long and were going a little crazy. speaking about going crazy the pic of the air freshener... so there is this air freshener right outside our study room that went up about halfway through the semester and every time it goes off it (timed at every 15min) sounds just like a soda bottle opening. well the first time we heard it, we thought some guy was outside our room being very quiet and drinking a coke. but than it went off 15min later, and we thought, wow he is thirsty, and than the next 15min, we got creeped out thinking there was some guy outside listening to us. than we got up and investigated, and found the air freshener...but horray this semester is over. it has gone by so unbelievably fast! I don't know where the time went!

Horse races

2007-11-18T11:39:00.000-08:00

So my friends Kelly and Carey(classmates) and I went to the horseraces this Friday. I tried betting based on the name of the horse, but alas I came out negative $5. I like the horse races because you can bet as little as you want. That way I got to bet a lot, but still didn't win...Hmm, I should have had vonnie with me and than maybe my luck might have been better!

Visiting Carmen (and fairclough)

2007-11-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

I love this little girl! I drove down to San Diego to visit Fairclough and her adorable little girl carmen. It was so nice to see them and I can't wait to see everyone at Thanksgiving! It was totally worth the 3 1/2 hour drive through traffic! I love how this baby just chills. You can just set her up on the couch, cross her legs, whatever, she is just happy to be there.

The Getty Center

2007-10-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

This is one of my new favorite places to study. Today sunny and I went to the getty center to study. It was sunny and about 78 degrees. It overlooks the Santa Monica area and since today was clear enough, we could even see the ocean. And than when we needed a break, we walked around the gardens and checked out van gogh and monet and all sorts of other paintings, sculptures, ect.

Copying Sarah Jones

2007-10-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

So as to copy sarah jones....
One year ago...
I was living in Seattle. I had just finished my travel assignment as a nurse and was trying to decide where to live, seattle or slc, and where to work. I had just interviewed at the university of washington medical center and found my huge apartment (all 502 square feet!) that was in sarah's apartment building. The idea of school had not even crossed my mind yet (that didn't happen for another month). Crazy how fast everything changes, and how fast time goes by! It doesn't feel like a whole year ago.
One week ago...
I had an anatomy test this past week, so I was studying like crazy. The days kind of blur together so I can't really remember exactly which day it was, but it doesn't matter. Oh ya, now I remember, I studied the brachial plexus. (just a bunch of nerves in the neck/shoulder). And I went to costco.
Yesterday...
During the day I studied fire safety in the OR (did you know that people's breathing tubes really do catch on fire!) and pre-anesthestic assessments. very exciting, but I have to say, the fire thing freaks me out! Than to celebrate being half way done with this semester, we decided to go out to a club and experience real LA. Let me start by saying it was fun and I am glad I went. One of my friends knows a guy who owns (works?) at a club called sugar (which is actually the bar that was built for the movie knocked up) and got our name on a list. We got free glasses of champagne and got in for free so that was cool. I have never seen so many beautiful people. everyone looked the same though. All the girls probably weigh 100-110 lbs, wearing little bitty dresses that barely covered their ass and I have never seen so many fake boobs. they even had a go go dancer. oh ya and since it is LA there was some tv crew, I think for next season of real world. We left at 1230, and I have a feeling that the party was just getting started, but it was way past my usual bedtime of 930-10 pm. What can I say, I am a wild and crazy girl!

my poor wrist

2007-10-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

So I was walking along today at school and wearing my favorite shoes that the heel is very worn down. If I don't pay attention to the way I walk, they can be very slippery. To make it worse, they had just hosed down the sidewalk, and needless to say I fell! All of my weight went on my wrist, and I don't know if you can tell, but there is a huge bruise! At first I was worried that I had broken some vasculature because I could see venous blood popping up under my skin. But don't worry it stopped and just left a huge black and blue bruise! Luckily no one was around...

Its official

2007-10-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

It is official, jack loves me!

The best mother ever!

2007-09-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

Yep, the best mother ever award goes to my mother martha. She came into LA for the weekend and took me shopping, out to dinner, and we even went and saw the broadway show Wicked. I have never seen Wicked before, and it was great! We decided to go last minute and somehow got 8th row tickets in the middle of the theater. It might even be my new favorite! All in all, a nice break and a fun weekend!

pure luck

2007-09-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how I could have possibly done this, and I really don't want to brag, but I am absolutely shocked at my test scores. For my pharmacology test I decided I would be satisfied with a C, and happy with a B, so imagine my complete shock when it came back with a 96%. I am pretty sure my jaw dropped. I checked my name twice, and almost gave it back to make sure it had been graded correctly. Somehow, I got the high. I am thanking my lucky stars because it is never going to happen again! Than later today I got my physiology test back today, and somehow scored a 92%. umm, can I say pure luck?!

P.S. I would love to post other exciting subjects, but unfortunately I have nothing but anesthesiology to talk about... so sorry team!

The end to a hard week

2007-09-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Finally, an end to a long and hard week! I had my first two graduate school tests, got a nasty cold and lost my voice, and broke it off with Jon. Good times! The first test was on physiology and the second in pharmacology. I have never studied so much on a continous basis. My day starts at 530 am so I can beat traffic and study, go to class, come home, and of course study. When I am not studying, I think about how I should be studying, and unfortunately it only gets worse from here! But at least this week is done and over with and now I have a whole weekend to study!

Out of the Cave!

2007-09-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

Horray!! We are out of the cave (1st apartment). That apartment sucked. It was dark and dreary and in this big cement complex with crazy neighbors shouting and their baby crying. The whole place was sterile, and might I mention the mold we found growing on the walls? Oh, and the best part we could have kept living there for just a mere $2600/month. wow, what a steal... I lived out of a box for a month, had no bed, and my bedroom didn't even have a light. So I was very excited when sunny and I moved to this new place in Redondo Beach. I don't know if the pics show, but there are windows everywhere with a ton of natural light and it has a nice breeze that flows throughout the apartment. It is in a great neighborhood with a baseball field across the street, some hot firefighters in the station across the street, and we can just leave our front door open. plus is is only $1500/month. Needless to say, everyone, including Jack, loves the new place!

my other bedroom. We spend a lot of time at these desks...

My bedroom with an actual real bed! No more airmattress for me!

L.A. County Fair - Cotton Candy

2007-09-05T19:09:00.001-07:00

Gotta Love LA!

LA County Fair

2007-09-05T19:06:00.001-07:00

These are the amazing people I have decided to surround myself with. I am already ditzy enough, so I hope it doesn't rub off on me!

My new best friend

2007-08-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

This is my new best friend Jack. He is sunny's dog but since I have had nothing to do this week, Jack and I have spent a lot of time together. We have been on walks along the beach, visited the dog park, and explored around my neighborhood. I love having an animal to come home to. He is always so happy to see me!

The girls go to Vegas!

2007-08-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

For Martha (my mom), we decided to take her to Las Vegas as an all girls trip. It was supposed to be a surprise until Robby asked her if she was excited for vegas. whoops... anyways it was great trip, even mimi was able to make it. although I have to say, I could never live there. sorry manda, but I don't know how you do it! I liked it for the first two days and by sunday I was seriously vegased out. I don't care if I never see another slot machine again. We ate way too much food, saw Mamma Mia, and did some shopping. Now that I am a stuggling student, I wasn't able to buy much, but it was still good window shopping and someday...at least sarah made $50!

cheeziest smile ever

2007-08-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

What is your cheeziest smile? well we tried ours, and I think Nicks is the best yet, although I would like to point out sarah's neck tendons protruding out! We even got mimi, the best aunt ever, to give it her best.

Jon and I

2007-08-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of Jon and I in seattle out with papa farn and again in good ole slc.

pics of my new campus

2007-08-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

So... one day I decided go to nurse anesthesia school, so the next day I checked out schools, applied to the few I hadn't missed the application due date, and 6 months later, moved to Los Angeles. Here is a pic of my dad and I on my new campus and the other pic is of sunny (my new roommate) and I in front of the county hospital. This is one of the places that I will rotate through. Oh, and don't worry, it was built I think in 1923 and hasn't been renovated yet. It is seriously old school. No air conditioning, and it even has a elevator button pusher! I don't start classes until next week, so this week I have nothing to do except walk sunnys dog and go to the beach. at least it is nice and warm here, although slightly overwhelming by all of the people and traffic!