"...welcome to the profession of medicine"

A walk through the UVa Class of 2015 White Coat Ceremony - an incredible day celebrating with my family and new friends. Remembering how I got here and where I'm headed. Getting inspired for the next four years and the rest of my career. Being reminded of why I want to be a doctor.

"Congratulations! Welcome to UVa."

Getting my coat from my college dean.

My incredible family that made the long trip up from Atlanta (don't be surprised if you see this picture again on a Christmas card...)

celebrating with new friends.

I'm a Wahoo now!

"...welcome to the profession of medicine."

Lots of love, Lauren

the earth was shaking

my progression of thoughts in the midst of an earthquake (yes, an earthquake) that hit near cville today:

um, how close is this grocery store to the train tracks?

i think this is an earthquake.

wait. what?!?!?

this is an EARTHQUAKE.

in Virginia?!?

EARTH. QUAKE.

if all the shampoo comes off the shelves right now i might be buried.

do i just keep shopping?

everyone else seems confused too.

my greek yogurt is going to go bad if i don't keep shopping.

what if i can't access my online assignments for tomorrow?

i really need to work on my assignments for tomorrow.

i wonder how hard the assignments are for tomorrow...

wait....

i'm still in the middle of an earthquake.

good times.

ray, ray, U-V-a!

Well, friends, here we are. At the start of something new and oh so exciting! The new header says "a new season for Rhythms of Radiance", and it really is! Moved to a new city, to a new apartment, at a new school, meeting new people, starting a new chapter of my life (how many times can I say "new" in one paragraph??). It has been a whirlwind over the past few weeks, and I just can't wait to share it all with you!!

My mom and I made the first trip to Charlottesville a little over three weeks ago. It was, without a doubt, one of the more marathon style days of my life - left home a little after 5 in the morning. Arrived in Cville 10 hours later. Unloaded everything from my car and my mom's van (both packed very, very full). Went to a mattress store. Bought a bed. Found a hotel. Ate dinner. Crashed.

The next day we got to work! Unpacked, cleaned, set up my bed, cleaned some more, rearranged furniture about three times, etc. I just love my room and the way our apartment came together (maybe once my decorating is done you'll get pictures!). Another very long, very productive day.

That weekend I went on a camping trip with 39 other first year med students and 5 second year leaders (Virginia Medical Outdoor Orientation, affectionally known as VMOO). No better way to get to know a ton of new people than by a) packing us into cars with complete strangers for a two hour drive b) taking us to a campsite away from the rest of civilization c) not taking showers for three days and d) no flushing toilets. Oh yes. We went hiking. We went swimming. We played cheesy games. We made s'mores. We bonded.

Group picture on our hike [taken by our official photographer, Kevin! Check him out!]

Came back from the weekend and took one of the most glorious showers of my life (no lie). The next two weeks were filled with lots of opportunities to bond with the people in my class. Trivia nights, game nights, dinner nights, movie nights, and oh yes, a pirate night. You name it, and it probably had a night. I got to settle into Cville and find my way around. Go grocery shopping and actually cook (for the first time in a long time!). Went to orientation and made it all official - name tags, user names, passwords. Just generally discovered my Cville rhythm.

Afternoon at a vineyard spent wine tasting and watching polo. Why yes, I did participate in the stomping of the divots...

rooms on the lawn

the one, the only. the rotunda.

And then, before I knew it, it was time for the family to make another trip north to see me get my white coat! Pictures from the weekend next time. I'll leave you with these wise words I recently learned...

Wahoo-wah! Wahoo-wah!

Uni-v, Virginia!

Hoo-rah-ray! Hoo-rah-ray!

ray, ray, U-V-a!

Lauren

so long, sweet summer...

Here we are, at the end of the summertime posts and updates - six weeks really did fly by! So many great memories of my last summer before med school with so many wonderful people. It is impossible to fit it all in to one little blog, but I'll leave you with a few final highlights...

1. Roommate reunion in good old Athens, Georgia! Three of us from my old college apartment got together for a short but oh so sweet 24-ish hour reunion. I had a few things on my Athens bucket list to knock off, and it was so much fun being with some of my favorite girls.

trip to Terrapin...

lunch with the bride-to-be at Last Resort... [Natasha is getting' hitched to Sam next May! Can't wait to be part of her special day.]

stocked up on Georgia gear at the bookstore...

...and finally walked under the Arch!

2. Last Saturday my parents and I made a trip up to Dahlonega to visit Hilary at Glisson for Family Day. It was SO great to see her and spend some time all together before my big move! Plus Hil and I had some great sister time that night (Wal-Mart, Chick-Fil-A and downtown Dahlonega make for a great evening.) So proud of all her amazing work this summer!

sisters :-)

family fun on the ropes course

3. Last but certainly not least, I finally SAW HARRY POTTER!! I couldn't go the night it came out, and I was dying to make it to the movies all week! Wendy and I made a day of it in Atlanta, and Harry (of course) did not disappoint.

Besides all of these fun adventures (and many more that I am probably forgetting), I was frantically preparing for my move to Virginia. Mattress shopping. Bedspread shopping (don't even get me started on that one...) More-professional-wardrobe shopping. Oh-yeah-I-forgot-I-need-that shopping. Packing. Organizing. More packing.

But the good news is...

I have arrived!

Say hello to Charlottesville's newest resident.

Updates on the move, new apartment and new city next time.

Lots of love, Lauren

Beach Trip x3

Since coming home from DC, I have been lucky enough to visit not one... not two... but three different beaches. Plus some of my favorite people were in each place, which means I have had quite a few awesome beach days.

First stop: St. Simons Island!! My home away from home after working on SSI at Epworth by the Sea for the past four summers (read all about why I love it so much here). I got to stay with my dear sweet friend Mary - one of my closest friends that I only get to see a few times each year. So when we are together, we make it count!

[me and Mare at Jack and Teresa's wedding last December]

We kicked off our week together with an awesome night out with Teresa, another wonderful friend I hardly ever get to see! The three of us ate a delicious, fancy dinner at Bonefish, walked around the village, made a visit to the infamous Rafters :-) and even got an invite to a huge outdoor wedding rehearsal party from the bride. Yeah. Incredible night.

why yes, those are wedding favors we are holding... and a glowstick...

The next day we slept in, had a Sweet Mama's breakfast and a lazy beach day followed by a trip to TCBY (wouldn't be a complete weekend for the three of us without it!). Sweet T had to hit the road :-( but Mary and I still enjoyed another night out and about on SSI. Later that week we got to have dinner with the Ricker crew (my old camp boss and his fam). So much fun to catch up, see their new house and see how those cute kiddos are growing up way too fast! The rest of the week was just the summertime relaxation I was looking for - sleeping in, trips to the beach, afternoons at the pool and time with Mary and the rest of the Epworth team. So, so good.

Next stop: Savannah beach weekend with my UGA girls! Don't know how I got so lucky to have all these amazing friends. Even though this trip was only a few days long, we had lots of quality time together and in the sun.

the crew on day one

from DC to Tybee Island!

Our second day, we spent twelve hours at the beach. For real. 1-2 hours. Half a day. Impressive, no? The day began with watching the sunrise...

beautiful. even though it was painfully early.

After a leisurely four mile walk down the beach to a fun breakfast place in town, we returned to our prime spot and promptly took a nap. Ah, it was glorious. One of my favorite places (the beach), some of my favorite people, a good book and good sleep. Bliss.

Last stop: Pensacola! My parents and I headed south for a long weekend with my aunt and uncle on the P-cola beach. Perfect vacation with pool time, walks on the beach, a tour in the sailboat and great time spent together. A beautiful beach with my awesome family? Yes please.

More summertime updates coming your way soon...

Lots of love, Lauren

Welcome to Atlanta

As promised, the whirlwind summertime updates continue...

A good portion of my 6 week summer extravaganza has been spent at home in Atlanta. The festivities started the first day I was home with a family trip to see the Texas Rangers play the Atlanta Braves. We even suited up in Rangers jerseys for the occasion!

Despite a 2+ hour rain delay (before the game went into extra innings) we had a great time!

The next day was Father's Day...

...and mom's birthday!!

Had a delicious dinner reunion with Gillian and Sydney, two of my college sorority sisters...

yumm. SO great to catch up with them!!

On the 4th of July, the 'rents and I left home at 5:45 in the morning (yeah. I know.) to get into Atlanta for the Peachtree Road Race! 6.2 miles along Peachtree Road through downtown Atlanta in the July heat with 59,997 of our closest friends. It was awesome. Due to a cold/sprained ankle I wasn't able to run like I originally wanted to (booo) but we still finished the race and got the all-important t-shirt to prove it!

[picture at the start line, when we were still clean and dry.]

Last but not least, I had an awesome reunion with my high school girlfriends! We graduated and went our separate ways to five different colleges five years ago - one of us is married - one of us lives in Australia - two of us are in grad school - but we were still able to get together this year and catch up. We're just that cool. Plus, most of us got to "shoot the hooch" one weekend (aka float down the Chattahoochee river) - tons of fun, and now I feel like a true Atlanta native.

recreating last year's picture...

so fun to have this group of girls stay so close!

In between all of this fun at home, I've been doing many, many get-ready-for-med-school things, like: mattress shopping. cleaning out my closest/desk/room at home. unpacking. repacking. buying a new laptop (yay!!). getting a new email account. filling out student health forms. requesting transcripts. and all that jazz.

Summer is flying by - hard to believe that I leave for Virginia in ONE WEEK!! So, so excited.

Next up: Beach trip x 3.

Lots of love, Lauren.

I'm glad we were here together

Time for massive, long-overdue updates (split into multiple posts, for your reading pleasure. thank me later.)

Let's begin with the high points of my final two weeks in DC, after that crazy weekend of no sleep oh so long ago.

Highlight #1: MUMFORD AND SONS!!
Went with a few other Fellows and friends to see Mumford and Sons perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Took us 3 hours to travel 30 miles on our way there... got caught in a torrential downpour... and it was all worth it. Standing on the lawn, eating our picnic dinner and listening to some of our favorite songs made it feel like summer had officially arrived!!

[side note: if you don't know Mumford and Sons, you probably should. Watch this or this for a small taste.]

Highlight #2: Family Reunion Weekend
Picked up my Mom in Baltimore one Friday and we took a mini road trip to her extended (and I do mean extended) family's annual reunion! First stop was near Philadelphia for a night's stay with my aunt and cousin, followed by yet another mini road trip the next day to Long Island. I haven't been able to make it to the reunion over the past few summers, so it was lots of fun to see all of the family I've been missing lately. One fun fact (of many) learned at the reunion: my great-great-aunt was actually at the Gettysburg Address. So legit. Mom and I stopped in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore on our way back to the airport for some genuine crab cakes, and they did not disappoint!

Surprise! UVa School of Medicine shirt from my awesome cousin Katie.

Beautiful lunchtime view in Baltimore.

Highlight #3: Final shifts in the ER

Now, this is sort of misleading. I was actually pretty bummed to be leaving my job in the ER. I had a fantastic time working there over the past nine months, and made some great friends along the way. But, all good things must come to an end (especially when I was in need of a pre-med school summer break!). So, I gradually said all my goodbyes and thank yous over my last few shifts. It was a bittersweet ending to an incredible learning experience. So long, scribbling!

Highlight #4: Quality time with friends

One of the best parts of my year in DC was the amazing friends I made along the way; so, of course my last few days in the District were spent seeing those friends. Whether it was a Mexican group dinner (with a fake happy birthday sung to David), happy hour, lunch date or movie night, I did my best to see everyone that I could. Dropped by the church office. Had one of the best meals of my life (seriously) at The Capital Grille with my awesome host family. One last fro-yo trip with my amazing mentor. Another delicious "last-time-in-DC" dinner with Wendy. (Basically, the theme of "good friends, good food, good times" continued.) Saying goodbye to all of the people I had come to love over my Fellows year made me realize what a community I was blessed with in DC. I am so grateful to all of the people who made my time there possible and made it fun - and I will miss them more than I can say.

Highlight #5: Monuments at night

I was determined to make it into the city at night to see the monuments - my final DC bucket list item to be crossed off. It was the perfect way to spend my last night in the District.

Since I was driving back the next day, I had to show some love for the peach state...

...but don't worry, Virginia. I'll be back soon!

So, after many, many highlights and many goodbyes, I finally loaded up my car and drove back to dear old Georgia to begin my summer vacation. It is hard to believe I moved to DC only nine months ago without knowing anyone - I learned so much more than I can explain during my short time there. It really did come to feel like home. And in the end, I couldn't sum it up any better than Forrest Gump...

"You know what? I'm glad we were here together in our nation's capital."

Lauren