farewell party

It's been an emotional day for me today. It was the last time singing with the Christ Community Church choir today. Becky had me do a devotional this AM reflecting on a few things and I started to cry. It has difficult to think about leaving the people I had come to know and love the last 8 years.

Miriam, Charlie, Annie, and Jessi had a going away party for me today and it was fun to have people all together one more time in one location. Annie handed me a gift she said was from "everyone". I was perplexed. As I opened the box, i knew what it was. I started tearing up. It was a scrapbook. A full one. My friends created some pages to go in the scrapbook and it showed me even more how much they mean to me. I will cherish this forever. Each page was filled with memories I had made with each one of them-trips and celebrations we had together.

Today I will talk about the friends I made since I started school. They are so wonderful!

Mel: Sweet Mel. Always willing to share the notes she typed up from many different classes. Always willing to share her home, her love of vegetarian food with me:-) As much as I love meat, she has introduced me into her world of yummy goodness without meat, and I actually love it. Many memories of celebrating her birthdays, vacationing in Turks and Caicos, cooking together. We are so different, yet we have become such good friends. The one thing we do have in common (besides being in the same class) is the LOVE of shopping. When Mel and I hit the shopping areas, WATCH OUT! We mean business. I will miss her as she moves to Philadelphia.

Tia: Crazy Tia. I met Tia through Mel. Tia is Mel's roommate. She is so fun to be around. Her laughter is contagious. She has a great sense of humor. She's a lightweight when it comes to wine and I love that about her, cause I'm the same. Turks and Caicos was so fun. So many memories and stories to tell. I went on my first trip to Walt Disney in Orlando with Tia. While I was in Jacksonville, FL for a clinical rotation, I drove down to Orlando to meet Tia. We did 4 theme parks in 4 days. Whew! It was so fun. I felt like a kid again going on all the rides and watching the shows. I had such a great time. I will miss her laughter and vivacious personality.

Jodee: Fun Jodee. She has been through a lot over the last 2.5 years. Life has not always been kind to her. She started coming to church with me and it was great to see her there. I'm hoping that she continues to anchor her faith in God. That's how we became friends. We have had some deep life conversations. We started hanging out more and it was great. We've been to countless dinners together. Her taste in restaurants varied from nice/nice to japanese to vietnamese, etc. I can always count on her to come eat weird things with me. She's always flirting or wanting to flirt with somebody:-) I remember when we were in Minneapolis for a review course and we met some guys from Arkansas. Jodee has a good time:-) I am hoping she would move to some place warm so I can come and visit. I will also miss her sense of humor and laughter.

Tori-wonderful Tori. Tori and I interview together for anesthesia school. It was great seeing her on the first day of class. We sat in the front of the class and we remained there. We did not move to the back of the class. I guess it made us pay more attention to the instructors. We have had fun working together on many group projects. I admired her for balancing her school work with her family. George, her husband, Tylene-her oldest daughter, and little Marin-her youngest daughter have been amazing people. I have enjoyed getting to know all of them in the last 2.5 years. Tori has been a great friend. She and her family are so generous. Always wanting to feed me when i'm over at their house. Tori and I also tend to have the same taste in clothes. We enjoy the trendy clearanced cheap items:-) I think if you look in our wardrobe, you may find similar clothes in them. I have a feeling they will be moving back to Myrtle Beach soon and I know opportunity will rise that I may come and visit. I will miss her great attitude, generosity, and sense of humor.

Tori, Jodee, Mel and I worked on our research project together as a group. The topic was pharmacogenomics:-) We helped create a website for the anesthesia group at Mayo and the genomics group, and we just sent our manuscript in to be published. We will see if it gets accepted.

It was been a memorable 2.5 years. Many hard weeks at school, but we did it. We just have to pass boards in the next few weeks.

People are in our lives for a reason. I have been truly blessed to have their friendships. I have faith that we will continue to maintain our friendship over many more years to come. Thank you, God, for bringing them into my life.