Road Trip to Margaret River

Thanks to our Breakfast chef Tim we had a hearty breakfast of omelette, french toast and poached eggs to start our day before we headed off to Margaret River :) It was a great trip trying cheeses, chocolate, olives, dukkah, wines and nougat and a lunch stop in Margaret River for Kebabs. We went to Yahava coffee tastings and i had some coffee! i think i am getting more use to the taste and enjoyed the tastings :) It was so nice to drive around the countryside and admire the greenery and fresh air.

At the Cheese factory

Chocolate factory!

Wine and Nougat tasting

Beautiful wineries

And hidden cellars!

Olive and soap factory... my favourite!

That night we were all ready to relax again after a great trip out! Illy was a master chef in the kitchen and made an amazing past and stew for us all!

The pasta soon to be demolished

Tim's face says how excited we all are

And a hearty stew!

 I love this group they are so fun and down to earth, we wished everyone well for the summer break as everyone had overseas or local adventures or work for the summer ahead. I look forward to seeing them all again soon as we move into our fifth year of medicine in 2013. But for now we part and i have to say some of us in more ways than one.

Meds in Busselton

I was home not even 18 hours when i unpacked my clothes cases and packed up another bag for a little trip to Busselton. I drove down midday to meet 8 other friends from medicine, it was funny to think this time last year we did the same in Margaret river and got caught by the fires on the beach! Thankfully this trip had no natural disasters :)

The house we stayed at was really big and bright! i loved the games room and kitchen area, the boys especially loved the Foosball table which made for a lot of fun! We spent the arvo lazing around enjoying each others company before heading to the Jetty for some frisbee on the beach, a coffee at the Loose Goose and a look at the lovely Busselton Jetty.

Frisbee and grid iron on the beach :)

Perfect scenery at the Loose Goose!

Busselton Jetty

Illy and I

We then made our way back to have a BBQ under the patio!

Guys in charge of the meat

Any hungry bellies were soon satisfied

That night we relaxed and played a few games including pictionary and charades, it was a really fun night :) 

Our 'Chillax Hut'

Foosball fun

Tomorrow we have a road trip to Margaret River planned to see all the sights!

Thank you Trinity!

The end of one chapter and the start of another, i have finally moved out from Trinity college after 4 years. I felt sad from all the wonderful memories and friends Trinity has given me, but i also feel i am ready to move on and have more independence. I baked some muffins the day before and Emma and I took them around to admin to say thanks with a few tears from our beloved mother of Trinity Anni. I took a few memory pictures on my way back...

West Quad

Cook Wing in West Quad

Facing the Dining Hall and Common Room 

East Quad BBQ area 

Argyl in front on the way to MacDonald Court 

MacDonald Court, the unit i was in for fourth year!

Last of the packing

No more studying at the desk!

It still took me a good 5 trips of things to fill my car up and i was rather proud of my packing skills! Then it was off home :) Trinity, I cannot thank you for all you have done for me enough, i could not have imagined University without you!

An Answer and a Challenge

After over a year and a half of on and off pain, frustration and confusion i finally have an answer...  'high grade almost full thickness tear of the central band of my plantar fascia'. It is great to know what is wrong instead of battling what i thought was a more simple (yet complex!) plantar fasciitis. My heart sunk when the doctor said it was the most impressive plantar fascia tear he has seen, 'well there goes any hope of running!' but i was slightly surprised when he asked me my goals and said i may be able to run in as early as 2 months time! I think it saved any tears threatening to escape in front of him. He was so nice asking me about goals, my running and seeing how we could make it work.

But the ultimate treatment is of course REST. I have not been running for 2 weeks and even then only ran once a week beforehand, but i need to be strict on myself and restrict my exercise to swimming, weights and limited bike riding. No more cross trainer for 4 weeks even if this is OK it is not the best and i want to make SURE i give it a good chance to heal while still having some form of fitness.

Central Band Plantar Fascia tear

In terms of running, if i can run in 2 months in January then maybe i could still do a little track racing, or else i may have to face the fact i will be giving a second track season a miss in a row. I will not lie i love to have fitness goals and if my big running ones are out yet again i will have to set some more while still not giving up for the future. So how will i get through resting from what i love doing most?

1. I will buy a new road bike! I can't wait to use it around the many beach side paths of Busselton next year!
2. My new 4 week challenge - how fit can i get with weights, core work and swimming??

The next 4 weeks i will start a new beginning both with my food and my exercises so that by then end i will be leaner, build up my arm strength and of course my abs! I think this calls for a before and after shot :) For my food i will eat Sugar-free (except for the naturals in fruit of course!) and have at least one Raw food meal a day. I am quite excited for this! I will keep going with Pump classes (minus the lunges for my foot) and CX30 but will also aim for 100 sit-ups a day for the next 4 weeks.

I have an answer, i am ready for a new challenge and i am ready for a new direction, bring it on :)

One Week Post Exams

I can't believe it has been a week since we last finished exams already, it feel like yesterday but at the same time feels like it was so long ago and i keep expecting to some back to my desk to get back into study or as though i should feel guilty i am not studying! It can be hard to adjust back into a 'normal' lifestyle.

It has been a really nice week all the same, Saturday i spent the afternoon out in Subi with Kyle looking in op shops and out for a coffee. Emma and I had a few 'Downton' dates and i completed the first whole season! Sunday i got to spend more time with Kyle and we headed to Bayswater Riverside gardens to meet Lex, her mum and the 2 adorable Daschunds Bella and Tilly. Unfortunately it was a thunderstorm day with freezing wind but we made the most of the Halloween picnic in the park with little sausage dogs dressed up as pumpkins, vampires, pirates and tutu's, it was one cute sight to see! To warm up Kyle and i had another coffee trip to Milk'd which is a really nice cafe Lex showed me up the road from the gardens.

That night Emma and I had a dinner party with Erin and Kaitlin, it was such a nice night filled with laughs, gossip, wine and a PERFECTLY cooked roast lamb with rocket, sweet potato and beetroot salad with honey, yoghurt and mustard dressing. Em was so happy it turned out well she had tears of joy, and it was well deserved! This was followed by mini pavlova's with strawberries, blueberries and passion-fruit pulp... yum :) Our first and very enjoyable dinner party, we felt so grown up and i can't wait for the next one!

Roast lamb salad

Accompanied with bread

Berry and passion-fruit pavlova

 I had a nice trip to Fremantle on Monday and did a little Christmas shopping. Unfortunately the Raw Kitchen was not open on Mondays i will have to go back for another trip! But i found some lovely vintage shops and a tea shop which i fell in love with :) That afternoon i also had a visit to the sports doctor in Subiaco where my physiotherapist referred me for my ongoing foot problems. He was a very straight forward guy and got me on to some new orthotics and an MRI to find any tears or stress fractures in my foot. If i am not on the right track to fix it now i don't know what is!!

Tuesday was in interesting road trip out to Midland for a Driding course as part of our RCS requirements. Rose, Kaitlin and I made the 40min trek to the area and we met the others. It was actually really interesting and something i have wanted to do before. We learnt about the different mechanical basics of cars, 2wd and 4wd, learnt how to prepare out cars and check it over before trips and how to change tyres correctly. After lunch we had a 3.5 hour trip grouped in cars through the Swan valley where we each had a turn driving the big 4WDs and making sure we were getting rid of any bad habits we had accumulated over the years since passing our P's. We made our way to gravel roads and had a bit of fun learning to do emergency braking with ABS brakes and feeling the central stability in the big cars whilst mimicking situations where we would skid on the gravel without it.... well i managed to do a 4 wheeled side skid with my turn still which the driver thought was quite impressive :P They also did a demonstration of emergency braking on gravel at 100km/hr which took 80m to stop not including the 1.5 second reaction time!! It was a long 10 hour day but well worth it :)

I made it back for a quick gym session then watched the Badgers netball team in the Grand final!! I have to admit i was a little disheartened having not been able to play with them this semester and when they made the final i was so happy for them but would have loved to be part of it with them. It was great cheering them and i was scoring, it was such a close game!! They went into extra time for 5 min when they ended as a draw... and won!! It was so well deserved even with a player injured they pulled through and were rightfully awarded champion medals. 7 seasons of the Badgers and the determination and skills playing together payed off! I was over the moon when Rosie gave the spare medal to me for the past games i have played with them and felt a little teary when she included me! Well done Badgers :)

Happy Badgers :)

Kyle and I

Cheer Squad!

After a busy Tuesday i had a rather lazy Wednesday and did some Menopause research writing, followed by a nice trip to Santis with Kyle and a treat of their amazing carrot cake! I was happy to see Obama become president of the US again and headed to the gym where i felt rather accomplished beating the 2 guys in front of me in push-ups in a pump class!

Gowned up!

To round off the one week since exams i was up early for a 6.30am MRI, my first MRI!! It was a nice peaceful walk with little souls out of bed, i was a little daunted by the MRI machine but was thankful i was not fully inside it as i would have been claustrophobic! But it was better than i thought and was done in 20 minutes. I had my own MRI images to admire of my foot! I can't see anything noticable with my untrained eyes but i hope it can give some answers and help get on the right track to run again, please please please! I headed back to college for breakfast and then to Subi to get my orthotics fitted in my shoes. I was impressed at how professional the orthotic fitting was compared to my last ones, they were properly fitted rather than cut to an estimated size and were fitted to fit both my running shoes and my everyday walking shoes! I can feel the difference already with the different material made on one machine of only 2 in WA, the material and different shape is very accommodating for my foot and i highly recommend the orthotics to anyone! I am glad i made that decision, it gives me a burst of hope :)

My foot MRI... anything???

I had a few hours wandering the shops of Subi for some Christmas and gift shopping before meeting Bronte and Emma at San churro's for a much delayed chocolate date! It was so nice to catch up and enjoy some sweet treats together celebrating all of us finishing for the year.

Banana Noche hot chocolate with peanut butter macaroon! 

And tonight is a night my dear friend Emma has been waiting for... we are going Salsa dancing at the Deen in the city!! There are about 10 of us going and i am looking forward to dancing the night away as free as can be with many happy faces :)

Summer Freedom :)

It was a lovely sunny morning when i woke up, it will take a while to get out of the habit of waking up around 6am but i actually like waking up early in summer, i love how the mornings are longer, they are quieter as people slowly rise and this morning the day was more beautiful... i did not have to study!!!

Still in my daily routine i headed to the gym for a morning session, then made my way to Leederville for breakfast at a cafe i have heard so much about - Sayer's, and it was amazing!! I loved spending time with the medicine girls away from the stress of uni and hospitals, everyone was so relaxed and the air of freedom brought large smiles to everyone's faces! The breakfast menu was one of the best i have seen and after much thought and discussion i went for a smoked salmon omelette with rogburd bread and poached pair salad with a chai tea... yum!! needless to say i was rather full yet 100% satisfied, and even managed to finish off Em's wonderful communial muesli :) It was strange to think that in the next couple of weeks most of them were heading on holidays around the world and most of us there were spending 2013 around the state for rural clinical school, next year will be a whole new year with quite a few changes which are exciting yet scary! I can't believe i have only just over a week left at Trinity, my home away from home for 4 years, my how time flies. But this brekky with the girls was such a great way to celebrate the end of our exams and the end of our fourth year of medicine :)

Smoked Salmon Omelette

Chai tea in a lovely pot

Her face says it all ;)

Can't wait to dig in!!

A beautiful group of girls :)

The Cafe itself!!

After a trip to the physio for the dreaded plantar fasciits, i was referred to a sports physician for a possible MRI and second opinion which i am going to see next Monday, fingers crossed i am on the right path for recovery!! I then baked a chocolate cake (Betty Crocker style) and Emma and I headed downstairs to our friends to try their new coffee machine! I don't drink coffee but was treated to a weak milky one with lots of milky froth! And i actually loved it! We had been trying to have an afternoon tea all year at McDonald court, so glad we finally got to :)

Coffee and cake anyone??

Then Em and I headed to the end of Semester show to meet a few friends i hadn't seen in a while, it was nice to sit outside and enjoy the atmosphere celebrating the end of the semester and year, we could also celebrate the end of exams but for the rest of uni exams were only just starting, a small gloating right for us after not having a mid year break! :P

EOSS with Em and Dan :)

All in all i had a wonderful day out socialising and catching up with friends, it is nice to come out from being a hermit and get back in touch with reality and see friends who may have believed we had fallen off the face of the earth in our studies. I am looking forward to my next week in Perth, my last one for over a year, i hope to make the most of it. As for freedom... I think i am going to enjoy this coming summer a lot :)

Life is more than Study

It is true most students find it hard to balance their life when exams are upon us, life basically goes on hold while we battle through our stress, tears and delirium. But breaks are still so so important, not only to help you get through the study and stress but to realise exams are not the end of the world, there is so much more in life!!! Some wonderful breaks i had while getting through the exams...

I joined Lex and Tilly on a lovely morning stroll with many beautiful Daschunds and their owners, seeing the love and joy in the little sausages and their owners made me so happy, they were all so adorable too!! The sun and stretch of the legs outside with great company was perfect and i had to take a few happy snaps to savour the morning :) 

Tilly fetching sticks in the water!

So cute :)

Playing by the river

Happy sausages and owners :)

Lex took us to a lovely little cafe down the road followed by a trip to some markets to round off a great morning, i couldn't have asked for a better trip out! :)

After my OSCE on the Friday i was lucky enough to meet mum and dad in the afternoon while they were up for a little getaway. We went to Fremantle and tried an amazing place called the 'Raw Kitchen' along South Terrace - all the food is fresh and made with nothing reaching over 40 degrees as it has been shown that food cooked over 40 degrees alters its composition, loses nutrients and even causes inflammation of our intestinal tract. Needless to say the food was all so tasty and you felt revitalised just by looking at it! It has inspired me and got me more excited about the summer and next year cooking for myself and trying healthier and raw foods :) 

Raw pizza and salad :)

Can i eat the picture??

All made with cacao, organic chai (the best!!) and a Florentine i will never forget... drool.

All who came this way must enter and eat!!

We then had a great time roaming the Fremantle markets and of course we found ourselves in the fresh foods and health foods sections excitedly discussing our next healthier options to try!

Surrounded by goodness!

I was so full but so content afterwards, it was a perfect way to turn my mind off study, exams and the mornings OSCEs, calm my nerves and spend time with mum and dad :)