Summertime (a.k.a. the time in between exams)

Well, hello, there!  It's been such a long time since I've posted, I almost forgot this place existed.  Since my last post, a few adventure-esque things have happened in Israel.   I'll give you a short summary. I've made it through two exams and two more systems (Hematology and Endocrinology), took a couple trips to Haifa (my favorite part of Israel, I think - it has a beach and mountains and a forest - all in one place!),

Haifa with my classmates!

attended my first MSIH graduation (which is a delightfully unique experience), played like a hippy with flowers in my hair (minus drugs and other icky hippy things, of course) outside Jerusalem with kehila for Shavuot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavuot),

Chillin' on the hillside for Shavuot

and said goodbye to the graduated fourth years whom I had the privilege to get to know.

Goodbye dinner for our beloved graduated DOCTOR friends!

Then. . .I went home!  Woohoo, summer!

The trip home was ridiculously long, which is partially my fault for being such a cheap skate (I couldn't pass up a $1 Megabus ticket to replace my domestic flight!).  After over 36 hours of constant traveling and convincing people they should let me out of or into their countries, I finally got to see my parents!  After a few more hours and a stop at church camp (where I was doing everything I could not to fall asleep standing up), I got to see the rest of my family!

While home, I finally got to meet my niece Arielle,

Beautiful baby girl!

ride/drive Ben's boat (this time I didn't put a hex on his watercraft),

I'm on a boat!  And driving it too!

sing at open mic night with my friend Steve, 

Steve and I being awesome at music.

take a day at Cedar Point with my little bro,

On our way to Sandusky to enjoy a day of waiting in line in the hot sun!

and hang out with my mum and sis at camp!

Mum and little sis at church camp!

After relishing time with my family for a week, I hopped on another Megabus to go to Chicago to visit my best friend Alexis!

Enjoying our time on Lake Michigan!  This pretty much sums up our sanity.

 She's getting marrieddddd!!!!

I returned home for another week and a half (the time was far too short), then made the long road trip down to Memphis, Tennessee, where I took part in a 3-week internship with Christ Community Health Services.

The admin building has a cool shape.

My time at CCHS was spectacular.  I learned a little about crossing cultures, how to integrate spiritual health, and even a tiny bit of medicine.  Additionally, the other interns were great, and we went out on the town, oh, every few days.

BBQ nachos!  Wow, I'm really craving those right now.

We got our portraits drawn by beautiful Jasmine!

Then it was time for family vacation!  In cabin in the Smokies, we had a wonderful six day relaxation time.  I had been looking forward to it for months and months!

Hot tub after a day of hiking!

The end of a hike that was surprisingly difficult, especially with two babies.

All of the girls in our family :)

So there's that, my summer in a few words (and photos).  I'll try to keep this thing semi-updated, but 2nd year is super busy (with studying, of course).  If anything particularly interesting happens, I'll be sure to let you know.  Like, for example, the breaking up of our family (phone plan)!  Never has a family splitting up been so joyous!

We finally were able to split up our phone plans.  We're not a family anymore! Yay!

Well, it's a long story, but finally Hellephone did something right (well, we think - we'll see).  No more minimum talk times (with a $30 monthly fee if we don't - yeah, ridiculous, I know)!

So anyway, back to studying the heart (we're in Cardiology right now).

Lehitra'ot!