Windy City ...

So Michelle & I survived the 2-day ordeal that encompassed our studies for the past several months: our Certifying Internal Medicine Examination. The test is offered once a year at the Wyndham Hotel in downtown Chicago, so we flew in the day before and had a comfortable stay at the Radisson two blocks away (thanks Al!). Overall the test was quite difficult, 600 multiple choice questions that got harder as the test wore on. We won't know the results until November. We also caught up with several classmates from medical school in between, many are doing fellowship (pulmonary or cardiology); the rest are attending internists.

Michelle & I celebrated with dinner and drinks after the exam, catching up with our close friends from school: Patrick & Tochi who both live outside the city. They're both enjoying life in the midwest, we were up past midnight talking about all sorts of things ...










Our last day in Chicago was a productive one, we hit the streets early doing some local sight-seeing. Highlights included a nice view from our hotel roof-top, as well as public pilates & cool sculptures in Millenium park ...












With only a couple of hours left we caught a guided boat tour on the Chicago River. It was awesome, the guide was quite knowledgable of the city and pointed out all the major buildings along the city skyline. We also made in out to Lake Michigan via a "locking station" and saw even more of the city.













We made it back Saturday night and relaxed the rest of the weekend. We'll try and visit again soon under less stressful circumstances!

Bundles of nerves

Well, in a little over 48 hours our albatross will be completed (hopefully successfully). For those of you that have endured us for the last (well few months specifically), you know what we mean. Thanks again for the support. We hope that you will be praying for us.

All in all, things are not so bad. We have our health and each other. We know there are two huge support systems (aka our families) that are behind us. It's very comforting to know that. Really, thanks. And our friends... some of you will be with us for the main event going through it yourselves.

We'll write more on the flip side of this adventure. Hope all is well. We'll be back to blogging in no time!!!

One month down ...

So Michelle & I finished our first month of fellowship! Overall things went pretty smoothly, and we're slowly getting the handle on how things run in the hospital. I spent July doing endoscopy (mostly colonoscopies) while Michelle was on the floors, getting a handful of bronchoscopies under her belt. Our confidence will hopefully grow with each opportunity, everyone at work has been very supportive and understanding.

Not much new to report on the home front, Michelle & I are hunkering down with studying for our Internal Medicine Certification Exam, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. We're flying to Chicago for the 2-day test, 8/24-8/25. Hopefully we'll meet up with some med school friends and do some sight-seeing afterwards.

We will certainly do more exploring of the area after the test is over with, and have newer pics to put up. We also plan on doing some interior decorating (i.e. removing the pink bathroom countertops) when time allows. For now, enjoy the pics of Ginger after another "summer-cut." Notice her devilish red eyes, fortunately cataracts haven't set in yet :-)