The Perks of Being a Med Student

While there aren't many perks to being a med student (come on, people, they study 50billion hours a week, cut open cadavers, have tests every 2-3wks, and...that's about all I know about med school. Sounds terrible to me.) spring Follies is definitely something that is looked forward to.

All dressed up and ready to go!
Can you tell the hubs is ready for a fun evening off?

You may have already guessed from looking at my fb pics, but it's jokingly referred to as med school prom.

I'm not sure what other people's proms were like - maybe they were different in KC, Cali, Vegas...anywhere except middle-of-the-cornfield-SD... - but Follies wasn't anything like any type of prom I'd experienced.

We took the shuttle from KCUMB to Arrowhead Stadium, where Follies was taking place in the North Club. The whole area was full of tables of all sizes - 4 tops, 6 tops, high tables, regular tables - decorated with a variety of centerpieces...candles....um...lots of other cool, sparkly things, but candles were at our table, so that's what I remember, hehe. This was a formal event, which you probably guessed, so all the girls were in cocktail dresses or long gowns. The men were seen in suits, tuxes, even tuxes with tails!

Our catered, buffet-style dinner menu:

One of four buffet lines.

FOLLIES 2013 MENU SELECTIONS

SALADS

Italian Chopped Salad with grilled chicken, bacon, blue cheese, tomato and pasta with a honey dijon vinaigrette

Southern Salad with baby field greens, assorted berries, spiced pecans and blue cheese with white balsamic vinaigrette (gluten-free and vegetarian)

Served with warm artisan rolls and sweet butter.

ENTREES

Peppercorn-Crusted Tri-Tip Sirloin with rosemary demi and horseradish cream (gluten-free)

Grilled Salmon with lemon buerre blanc (gluten-free, Lenten)

Penne Pasta with spicy marinara, asiago cream fresh basil and spinach and shaved parmesan cheese (vegetarian)

SIDES

Au Gratin Potatoes with four cheeses and fresh thyme (vegetarian)

Bistro-Roasted Vegetables with the season’s finest fresh herbs and olive oil (gluten-free, vegetarian)

I didn't try everything, but what I had was amazing: Southern salad, sirloin, roll w/ sweet butter, and bistro-roasted veggies. YUM.

As if a dinner like that wasn't amazing enough...

Brownie Sundae Bar featuring chocolate chunk brownie and blondie bars served with warm vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauce, toasted peanuts, fresh whipped cream and assorted toppings

After gorging ourselves (okay, that might have been just Jordan - he said he ate 4 brownies...before dinner) we got in the always-long line for the photo booth. WORTH IT.

Then it was time for Follies Videos. This is the big part of the night. Students make lip-syncing videos and then compete to win...something. Bragging rights? Here's a few of the videos from last night:

Harlem Shake - At the beginning of this video, they'd in OCS (osteopathic clinic skills) lab doing the lymphatic or "pedal" pump...yes...that's really a "doctor treatment"...

Dr. Olinger vs. Dr. Shnyra - "Movie Trailer" featuring 2 KCUMB professors

YouTube Mashup - in this one, the guy sitting in the back of the school's fountain is a professor, and the guy wearing the gorilla suit is also a professor...hehe...

This is from last year...but I think it's hilarious - the bald guy in the white coat is one of the professors, the other people are fellows (so, not students): Busta Move

More friends!

The Larsons!

As if everything else we'd already eaten wasn't enough:

LATE-NIGHT SNACK: Extreme-Loaded Mini Dogs

Picnic Dog with beans, BBQ sauce and all the fixin’s

Frito Pie Dog with chili, cheese and Fritos

Mac-N-Cheese Dog with gooey macaroni and cheese topped with Fritos

Taco Dog with all your favorite taco toppings

I didn't eat any of these, but Jordan had 2 and a mound of mac&cheese (which I had one bite of...amazing) and he thought they were awesome. 

After videos, the dance started and we left shortly thereafter. My hubs is not much for dancing, and honestly, I don't call my heels "killer heels" b/c I look killer in them. 

We had a fab time, and I almost wish it was more than once a year! I like excuses to get all prettied up. 

32 Degrees Is Warmer in MO Than in SD

Not kidding. I've said that multiple times this week. 32 (or 35 or whatever) is warmer in MO than SD. I don't know why. Windchill, I guess. But even yesterday, at 35 degrees, I was outside without my coat on. Weird.

I'm packing all sorts of activities in before our 10-day Christmas holiday in South Dakota. We're getting pretty darn excited.

Girls' Night
As always, I had another fun evening with Rachel, Emily and Jenny. And, as always, super thankful for these girls and their friendship. This time, Rachel got the materials for a cute Pinterest craft - my first one ever!

Affordable Christmas
Our church puts on a fabulous Affordable Christmas for families in the church's neighborhood. I spent one evening this past week at a volunteer training and spent Saturday morning in the church kitchen helping prepare for the breakfast portion of the event. Take a look at the video and read more about Affordable Christmas - families are so blessed by this, and I was so glad to be a part of it.

Tea Time
On my way home from Affordable Christmas, I stopped at my friend Liane's apartment and had breakfast and tea with her (while our hubbies saw The Hobbit). I think us girls may have gotten the better end of the deal. I was thankful for some one-on-one girl time and felt very blessed by the fellowship we had.

Lunch Date
After hubby's tests, we met for lunch and enjoyed Haus on a Groupon. We've got to be some of Groupon's best customers. Seriously.

Here's hubby enjoying his buffalo & beef kielbasa sausage wurst  on pretzel bread with caramelized onions, homestyle 'kraut and honey dijon mustard ($7.99). And a beer. De-lish.

Because I made a ridiculously unflattering face when J took a pic of me, here's my food: Smoked Chicken & Apple sausage wurst with caramelized onions, sweet peppers and honey dijon mustard ($6.99). Surprisingly delicious. And, it's hard to see, but that's a pink beer on the right - Lindeman Framboise...a beer I actually really liked!

Cookie Exchange
Emily hosted a cookie exchange at her house and I came home with bunch of delicious goodies: oreo balls, peanut butter balls, rice krispies, peppermint white chocolate cookies, puppy chow, ginger and molasses cookies...my hubby was a happy man.

KC Symphony
Once again, Uncle Pat and Aunt Kathy brought me in as one of their very own - this time to a fabulous Christmas concert at the Kaufman Center. What a beautiful building. And what talented musicians. The KC Symphony is up for a Grammy this year!

Ugly Sweater Party
Last but not least (mostly last b/c this one has "a bunch" of pictures), we went over to Chad and Chandra's for an ugly sweater party and time with all of our med school friends. Food and fun was had by all. And I was introduced to boiled custard by Preston from Tennessee...it's fabulous! Like eggnog, but not...it's like melted ice cream in a cup. YUM!

Here's our ugly sweater finds...thanks, Goodwill!

Life's Been Great

My last boss used to get a kick out of me, because every morning when I'd pass his desk overlooking the south side of Sioux Falls, he'd ask me, "How are ya, Bets?" and my response would always be "Great!" He'd laugh, and smile, always seeming surprised that I could always be great. And, at my job before that - my first job out of college - I was referred to as the "ray of sunshine" for my unfailing sunny disposition.

Now, all of this isn't to say that I don't have bad days. Or that I don't get grumpy. Or that I don't snap at my husband. No, that's all me, too. But I'm always striving to portray the happiness - the joy - that Christ fills me with each and every day.

Even when things are stressful or difficult or life is just hard (we live in an imperfect world, after all), I try to keep my focus on what matters: Christ. God's love. His love for us (of all things). Romans 8:28 reminds us, "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." "His good" in this verse doesn't always mean "our good" but lately there's been a lot of good in our lives, and I'm oh-so-thankful for it. Here's what's been making me respond, "Great!" lately:

Med School
Jordan passed his first section - Foundations of Medicine - so there was much rejoicing in the Larson household. Next up: MusculoSkeletal. 

Friends

• I had lunch with another med student wife this week. She had her little daughter with her, just at a year old; so cute. We had a great time getting to know each other and the hour I had for lunch just flew by. We're hoping to get together with our hubbies for dinner one evening soon. 
• Friday evening we went to Josh & Audrey's house to celebrate the end of the guys' first section of medical school. Liane surprised me with a chocolate cake for my birthday (birthday extension!)...so sweet. There were even candles and singing. And delicious chocolate cake. And wonderful new friends. Thanks, friends. Audrey had a fab spread of food for the guys' celebration including bbq (this is KC, after all). There were about 15 people or so that came, a good group. We're so glad to already have a group of friends.
• After Josh & Audrey's, Jordan and I ventured to FOP - here's the description on the KCUMB 2016 Facebook page:  Hey all! Congratulations on almost being done with your first section of medical school! One of the fine traditions we have here at KCUMB is for the first and second years to get together at the end of a section to celebrate (and forget everything we just learned)! We call this Foundations of Partying.
  
  This year "FOP" will be at the Velvet Dog in Martini corner. There will be free cover, and drink specials from 9-midnight for KCUMB students and guests. (Still working on what we will be offered). The deal has also been expanded to their sister bar/club, the Monaco, across the street. See you all there!!

Needless to say this was WILD. I used the excuse that I was driving to not drink, lol, but I really was driving. There were hundreds of med students. Jordan and I spent almost 3hrs meandering from the front of the bar, up to the 2nd level, up to the 3rd level, to the back of the 3rd level, down to the 1st floor and to the back of the bar (which was an outside courtyard) talking with Jordan's classmates and meeting other med students and their spouses. I was VERY surprised that I had a good time. A really good time. And I wasn't even drinking. ;) Although, I could have used a glass of water from all the shouting I was doing to communicate over the music, haha. Earlier, I'd told Jordan that I'd like to leave no later than midnight, but when midnight rolled around I was enjoying myself and didn't say anything to J - he was very surprised to look at his phone and see that it was 12:45am and we were still out. A good night.

• This weekend we have our first non-family apartment guests! Matt and Cathy are in KC for a wedding (Matt is originally from KC) so we were more than happy to have them stay with us. We, of course, had to get bbq from Bear's Smokeshack (Jordan's FAV) for lunch. We're so glad to have some friends from home visit us, even if it's just for a bit!

Community

• I went to my first PC meeting here in KC! I had a lot of fun, met a lot of fun women and picked up some tips for my PC biz. I even found my way home WITHOUT my gps. Be impressed.
• Thursday evening was our church's first Gospel Community Group get-together. Our church is so, so, SO intentional about these groups. There are 60 of them every week, and each group has 10-15 people that were placed in the group according to where they live. I'll admit, while I was excited, I was a little apprehensive, too. Liane was in a group that was 10mins from mine, so I was bummed that we weren't in the same group. But I know that God's plans are good, and that He must have had a plan for her in that group and a plan for me in my group! So. I went by myself (J tells me often how blessed he is to have a strong independent woman who can do things alone, but I'd still rather  do things with him) on Thursday, straight from work in the rain. (People in KC can't drive in the rain. Good grief.) Then I tried to turn the wrong way down a street, so I guess I can't drive in the rain either. But back to the intentional part. There's a 15-pg Group Participant Manual that our church puts together for us, and it is so thoughtful. If you have time, peruse it. This first week we shared a meal and 6 people shared their stories - we're all a mix of ages from 20s to 50s+ and a mix of single, married, married with kids, and married emtpy-nesters. I felt so welcomed and I'm so excited to see what God has in store for our group. Next week, the other 4 of us will share our stories. Despite my initial apprehension, that was immediately washed away. This is a good group, as I'm sure all the Gospel Communities are, but I'm super excited that this is mine. 

Today, Jordan and I had a relaxing afternoon together. I read a new little cookbook (yeah, I do weird things like that) that I'd gotten for free from PC. I read a magazine. I fell asleep in the chair. Jordan played xbox (something he hasn't done since med school started). I warmed up some leftovers and we had a little picnic in the living room. Now he's frisbee golfing with Josh and Preston and we're planning to play a game after Matt and Cathy return from the wedding. Tomorrow after church we're heading out for lunch on base with my aunt, uncle and cousin. They are far too good to us, and we're so blessed to be living so close to them. Should be another wonderful afternoon.

So that's life this week. It's been great. I hope yours has been, too.

The White Coat Ceremony

 

Thursday the 9th was the KCUMB White Coat Ceremony where all the MSIs (med student 1 - 1st year students - 1st years) received their first white coat as they embarked on their journey to become doctors. It's a very high-class, almost sober, ceremony. The students wore suits (without suit coats, since they got their white coats) or black dresses and had the opportunity to be coated by a physician of their choosing (such as a family member, close friend, etc - the person just had to be an MD or a DO). Jordan asked my uncle Pat, who lives on base nearby, to coat him. We had a lovely evening, followed by a fantastic reception put on by KCUMB. The speakers at the ceremony were excellent, and if you have time, I'd encourage you to watch the ceremony. Jordan is in one of the 1st 5 rows (I think) to be coated, so he's right near the beginning of the coating. Many thanks to the fabulous Aunt Kathy who took all these photos for me. You all know how terrible I am with getting pictures for you all to see...without her, you'd be stuck with words again, and for this post, that'd be WAY boring.

Jordan's mom, brother and I, ready to leave for the ceremony!

Lisa and I waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Jordan being "coated" by Uncle Pat - Jordan is the last guy, next to the girls, at the end.

Jordan's first moments officially coated - he's on the screen in this pic, too.

The class of 2016 repeating the Oath of Commitment (below). Jordan is in the center of the screen.
As I embark upon the study of osteopathic medicine at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences’ College of Osteopathic Medicine, I will enter into a relationship of mutual respect with my teachers and my colleagues to enhance the learning environment and gain the knowledge, skills and attitudes of an exemplary physician. 

I accept responsibility only for those matters for which I am competent, maintaining the trust expected of a physician. 

I will be ever cognizant of the human and medical needs of each patient acknowledging that healing also involves the spirit and that a physician must exemplify humane, holistic and compassionate care. 

I will value the knowledge and wisdom of the physicians who have preceded me and endeavor to contribute to this tradition. 

I will recognize my strengths and my weaknesses and strive to develop those qualities that will earn the respect of my patients, my colleagues, my family and myself. 

I will continue this learning throughout all the days of my life. 

Audrey and Josh, two of our new and dearest friends here in KC!

After the ceremony, we went to a reception at the Muehlebach Tower in the Marriott in downtown KC. Talk about wow. They had musicians playing - a banjo and fiddle (mabye? It was "country" music, or maybe bluegrass would be a better term) - the centerpieces were things like tumbleweeds, sprigs of cotton, wheat, corn stalks and other things that would say "rural" or "country". It was beautiful. And the food. So delicious. It was heavy hors d' oeuvres; everything was a small portion so everything could be enjoyed. The traditional veggies and dipping sauce, yellow watermelon made an appearance here, corn fritters, fried green beans (amazing), mini chicken pot pies, braised short rib (omgosh. so. good.), mashed potatoes with parsnip (and I thought I loved mashed potatoes before), potato wedges (with sour cream, cheese and bacon), mini pulled pork sandwiches, root beer floats, brownie truffles, apple pastry, pineapple upside down cake...I'm sure I'm missing something...but it was fabulous. KCUMB did an amazing job. It really made this all so real!

The Last Week of (B's) Summer

This will be a quick one because I need to be headed to bed shortly...transitioning from six weeks of frolicking isn't as fun as it sounds! (Actually, transitioning from frolicking to working doesn't sound fun at all...)

I had one CRAZY day of interviews - 8:30, 10:30 and 2 - that ended in a most welcome JOB OFFER.

I had one EXTREMELY HOT evening at the Johnson County Fair doing a Pampered Chef booth. In which the only thing I got from it was sweaty. At the end I rewarded myself with fresh-squeezed lemonade, which almost made sitting in the non-AC'd-building-with-no-breeze for 5hrs worth it. I stand by my statement that these Missourians and Kansans can handle this humidity better than us northern folk!

I had two LOVELY dates with Audrey and Josh (okay, it wasn't just me on our dates, lol, Jordan was there too). After the White Coat Ceremony we went to their humble abode for wine and they came over for Thai and hottubbing the next evening at our place. So thankful for friends!

I had three FAMILY days with Jordan's mom Lisa and his brother Blake! We enjoyed lounging at the pool (which I got a little color from, even with 50spf, being out there at 10am and only being there for an hour! Strong sun down here, folks!). They were here to join us at Jordan's White Coat Ceremony. While they were here we also enjoyed more of the now-famous (on this blog) Bear's Smokehouse BBQ and we found a pizza that could rival Tomacelli's (but not their prices, lol) - Stone Canyon Pizza. Yum. Jordan and I split the Scampi Blanca...So. Good. "Sautéed shrimp atop our own special roasted garlic and olive oil sauce with mozzarella, provolone and asiago cheeses and diced tomatoes." I think it was almost better than my FAV shrimp, crab, garlic alfredo, and roma tomatoes at Tomacelli's - GASP. (But if you're in SF, nothing beats Tomacelli's...so get yourself some!)

Jordan had four SAMPLES at a microbrewery festival! (okay, so he got to sample MANY more than four...but that's the number I was on!) We met up with another med student from South Dakota (a new one, that we hadn't met yet!) and his fiance, Liz. We had a great time getting to know them and Liz even gave me some basil, chives and mint! I really need to start growing my own herbs...

Now it's time to get ready for bed and the White Coat Ceremony deserves more than a two-second write-up. It needs a whole post - it's that darn important! (and I even have PICTURES!!! I know. You're so excited now. Keep waiting in anticipation...I might have time on THURSDAY.)

Making Friends

We have been BUSY with our new friends. Here's a (quick?) rundown:

Weston, MO
We headed out to Weston again, this time with friends! Larry & Leah and Weston & Nicole (hereafter: L&L and W&N) joined us. The guys bonded over cigars and over-sized beer flights, the girls bonded over...definitely not cigars and beer flights, haha. We had a great time getting to know these two couples better and are looking forward to more fun times with them (and you'll see as this list progresses, that we already have!).

Wine Walk on Delaware & Minsky's Pizza
This was a charity event for the National Parkinson Foundation, and a lot of other med students planned to go to it. For $15 you walked in a one- to two-block area and sampled different wines from Pirtle Winery (the one in Weston, MO, that'd we'd sampled a few weeks ago). We met up with L&L and W&N and met another couple that evening that we've become friends with - Josh and Audrey. The wines were delicious and were an excellent reprieve from the ridiculous heat and humidity. I had a sundress on and could feel the sweat rolling down my back...I was just STANDING there. It is ridiculously hot down here. Audrey and I initially bonded over our staunch belief in Dave Ramsey and the conversation went on from there. We are certainly glad we met!

After the wine walk, we all went to Minsky's Pizza, which Jordan and I decided was not nearly as good as Tomacelli's in SF (SF people, if you haven't gone there yet, get to it. Seriously. It's the best.). I don't think we were impressed enough to return. We're still scoping out excellent pizza joints here in KC...

Bistro 303
Yum. Jordan enjoyed a special they had...which I'm now blanking on. Crepes with chicken, feta...and more. It was delicious. I had the Lobster Cobb Salad (Mixed greens, buttermilk chive dressing, hard boiled egg, blue cheese, bacon, tomato, avocado). Fantastic. Both the salad and the special were between $13-$15 (again with the can't-remember thing), but they also had more affordable options on the menu. We went after church with a couple (the wife is going to be a KCUMB student, the husband is in advertising - same as me, haha) and another KCUMB student. They each tried the panini ($8) and said it was also excellent. It was a nice little walk from church, and I wouldn't be surprised if we went back.


Fishing & China
No, they definitely don't go together. While our hubbies fished, Audrey and I had a coffee date at her home. She and Josh were just married in March and I was her first "excuse" to use their new china! She made a fabulous lemon-blueberry coffee cake for breakfast, so we enjoyed that with our coffee. We had a great morning together, discovered we have lots and lots in common, and decided that our hubbies just "had" to be friends because we'd already decided to be. And, I experienced Trader Joe's for the first time, too. Audrey also told me about an excellent consignment shop that a lot of the wealthy folk bring their "old" clothes to, I'm sure we'll visit that sometime as well. (Oh, and the guys had a great time fishing, despite not catching anything.)

A Home-cooked Meal
Since we'd gone over to Chad and Chandra's the week before, we had them over to ours for an evening. I had a hard time coming up with what to make, since my go-to recipes are usually grilling (which was out b/c of no grill) or a Pampered Chef recipe (which was out because Chandra also sells PC). I finally settled on Texas Skillet (and this is my reminder that I need to send the recipe to Chandra...Chandra, if I haven't, message me on fb, lol). Turned out to be a hit - just a good, ol' home-cooked meal. Chandra made dessert - an amazing creme brulee. So. Good. We mostly just talked the night away, the guys on the porch, the girls inside on the couch. We're very thankful for their friendship, and I'm excited to get over and see those cute kiddos of theirs again!

Card Games
We hadn't gotten enough of new friends yet, so we had Josh and Audrey over for drinks (pomegranate margaritas for the girls, beers for the guys) and card games. Josh and Jordan discovered a mutual love for Settlers of Catan and Audrey and I discovered a mutual love for being non-competitive and trying to make the longest road, hehe. We didn't play the game yet (it's long and we decided not to be up all night, ha), but there are plans for a Settlers night soon.  We played 121, which Jordan had to explain to me for the billionth time (because I can never remember how to play any card games) and then I believe he (or Josh?) proceeded to win. It was an excellent evening.


Bears Smokehouse BBQ (again)
Yep, Bears again. This time with L&L and W&N - they live a few townhouses down from each other, so it's easy for them to ride together. The ribs were fantastic yet again and we stayed until they turned off the "open" sign and shut the place up. Then we stood around outside and talked some more. Leah recently started her nursing job and Nicole will start school (not at the med school) in a few weeks too, so we're trying to get as much couple time in as possible before everybody is busy with work/school.

Research Experience
For two days Jordan helped out a second-year med student with some of his research. It consisted of doing health screenings at a homeless shelter near the school. He got to do some cool things (something about pricking their fingers for blood and putting it in a tube to be tested) and some other stuff. The important part is that he had a really good time, got to meet some other students and also got to meet some of the professors. He is so stinkin' excited to start school. I've heard "I wish school started tomorrow!" almost every day for a week now. That's a good thing.

Ocean's of Fun
On a "cool" day - aka, not in the 100s, only in the 90s - Larry (Leah was working) W&N and Jordan and I walked to Ocean's of Fun from their townhouses (it was about a mile away...a very hot, sweaty mile). Once we got there...totally worth it. Slides. Water. Almost drowning in the wave pool (not really). Need I say more? It was awesome. And then we went on a crazy adventure for cheese curds that finally ended at...Culver's. Apparently they're not a common thing here in KC.

Hickok's Bar and Grill
Thank you, Groupon, for your fabulous deal that got us and Josh and Audrey an excellent meal out for $36/couple (including tip). Jordan and Josh enjoyed the most expensive item on the menu - the $21 steak - Audrey had a burger, I had steak fajitas. We all had drinks, plus we split two appetizers (bacon-wrapped shrimp - how can you go wrong? - and calamari). The bill was $120 (after tip). We thought we made out pretty good with that Groupon deal.

Mini Golf
Annnnnnd finally, today we went mini-golfing with Chris, the other KCUMB student that goes to Redeemer Fellowship. We had a buy-one-get-one-free, so the three of us cost $16...love a deal! Jordan and Chris are equally competitive and TIED after 18 holes...which meant they had to do one more hole as a tie-breaker. To Jordan's disappointment, Chris won. I picked a tough hole.

We're so thankful for our new friends! We feel so blessed that God has already given us Jesus-loving friends to go through med school with. We're very happy! (Don't worry, SF friends...nobody can replace you guys!)

If There's Treasure Here, We'll Find it!

We've been exploring, exploring and exploring. Hence no blogging. Here's the highlights (the bold headings will bring you to the websites of those places...they didn't underline like before):

A Pampered Chef Friend!
I ventured out on the many KC interstates by myself for the first time to visit a new friend and talk PC at her house. It was great to visit with another consultant and I'm really looking forward to getting to know Chandra better. So thankful that we've found a "couple" friend this early - that was one thing I told Jordan when we got down here: "Try to make friends with people who have a wife so I can have friends, too!"

Nelson-Atkins Museum
This is a free museum in KC and it really is wonderful. We were there for only a few hours, but knew we could come back and explore again, so we didn't feel we had to see absolutely everything this time. The coolest thing we saw was this backpack:

Leather, right? Nope - it's clay! Amazing, eh?

Here's us outside the museum...it was so bright, I couldn't even keep my eyes open! For real!

Bear's BBQ

Amazing little hole-in-the-wall bbq joint we found about 5-10 mins from our apartment. It's owned by a tall, big, biker-looking older dude (with a long grey beard and a bald head...whose nickname is, of course, Bear) and they just opened 15 months ago. The food was delicious, and NOW if you come to KC, we're definitely taking you here for bbq instead of Oklahoma Joe's (unless you want to drive 30mins and then wait in line for an hour). We ordered the Little Bears Toothpicks ($14.99), which was a 1/2 slab of ribs and two sides. It was advertised as enough for two people, and they weren't kidding. There was no fat on these bones. And there was TONS of meat. (Okay, not literally, but you get the picture. So. Much. Meat.) They use a dry rub and have sauce at the table for you to add to your liking - Jordan prefers lots, I prefer little...he prefers hot hot hot, I prefer mild...so this was perfect for us. We ordered steak fries and Bears smoked beans for our sides. I'm not much for baked beans, but Jordan thought they were delicious. Instead of being made with pork, they use beef brisket with their beans. I'm a big fan of fries and these didn't disappoint - they were the large style...almost wedge-like (but not potato wedges) and came with a big bottle of Bear's own jalapeno ranch sauce. I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't spicy and was great with the fries. Overall, it was fab. We'll be returning here for sure.

Puzzle!
We started working on a puzzle...and we opted not to use the picture. It came in a big box with 10 or so other puzzles, so we're not even sure which one we're working on. Here's our progress:

City Market
I'd been told how wonderful the Saturday and Sunday Farmer's Market at City Market was, but you have to see it to believe it. They start at 6am on Saturday morning, and we heard that the crowd gets amazingly big, so we left our apartment at 6:30am and at 6:45 there was already a big crowd there! Unlike SF farmer's markets, where the prices are way higher than the grocery store, this was all SUPER cheap. Here's what we walked away with for $15:

• huge bag of carrots - $1
• 3 mangos, the size of my hand - $1
• 2 lemons
• 3 organges
• bunch of cilantro - $0.50
• bunch of mint - $1
• box of strawberries
• 4 smallish onions
• head of broccoli
• head of cabbage
• 4 plums
• 1 large tomato
• 1 1/2 cup scoop of chili powder

Glore Psychiatric Museum
Their website summarizes this museum as "The Glore Psychiatric Museum chronicles the 130-year history of what was once known as the “State Lunatic Asylum No. 2.”" It was interesting and creepy - they had life-size old mannequins in different scenes. There were boxes that they kept people locked up in, a boxed in "hamster wheel", "prison" cells and other remedies that they used to try to bring people back to sanity. It was really sad, thinking about how scared everyone was of people with mental illness and disabilities and the different things they tried to do. Must have been very frightening for both parties....it makes me super thankful for places like SD Achieve and the vast steps we've made in understand those illnesses/disabilities since that time.

KC Command Game
Free tickets? Yes, please. We're not much for sports, but give us something free and we're there. It was a one-point game (we lost, ugh), so it was fun to watch...although we saw a lot of this during the game:

These teenage boys were VERY passionate about arena football.

Our apartment is the "home" of the KC Command team and coaches (literally, they live here) and last week we met one of the Command players. Get this: his last team was...the SF Storm. Small world - even here in KC.

Power & Light District: Nightlife with KCUMB Students
Saturday night we met up with a bunch of other med students again for drinks - it is WILD in downtown KC at night. I'd never seen anything like this before. Between a cluster of bars there's an outdoor courtyard that connects them all, the music is blaring inside and outside, there's a HUGE flatscreen TV (playing sports at the time), outside there's stairs that take you up to the next level that has more bars. It was interesting to see, but the spendy drinks, loud music (couldn't even talk to the person across the table without leaning towards each other and yelling), and...interesting...outfit choices told us this wasn't really our scene. (at least not Jordan's and mine, a bunch of the students went out again on Sunday night.)

Fellowship of Grace
Another wonderful, little church. There were about 30-35 people at this church, and they were so friendly. Lots of people made a point to welcome us and thank us for coming and invite us back again - it was nice to be noticed and welcomed. The music was very similar to E. Free and I knew all the songs, so that was great little reminder of home. We enjoyed the sermon, but it wasn't as deep/thought-provoking/challenging as we'd like.

A Family Afternoon
We spent Sunday lunch and afternoon on base with my aunt, uncle and cousin. My uncle Pat made us a fabulous chicken curry for lunch and the followed it up with a berry cobbler. Fan-tastic. We were so spoiled. Jordan, cousin Greta and Pat played Empire Builder (twice...Jordan lost by ONE POINT the second game) and aunt Kathy and I looked at her scrapbooks (she makes digital scrapbooks and has the printed up and has 9 done so far of different trips from the past few years...I think I'm feeling inspired!), sat outside and talked, and watered plants. It was a wonderful, restful afternoon.