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Sometimes we fall off...In my case, it happens a lot...just have to remember to check the breaks and keep the wheels turning <3

Home is where my bike is...

I'm approaching my final week of residency orientation! It has been somewhat of a long 2 weeks full of paperwork, endless power points, safety briefings, and trying to re-adjust to being back in the Air Force. In-processing, the military word for checking in and starting at a new duty station, has pretty much been a painful experience for me. Mostly because something got lost in translation (i.e. my SSN-which is kind of a big deal) and made virtually every form I was supposed to have, every system that I had to have set turn out incorrect. Long story short, I had to do everything at least twice to fix the error in my SSN.  BUT...it's ok, it all worked out and I got a 2 week lesson in patience :)

In other news, I'm getting settled! I LOOOOOOOOOOVE my apt..well...with the exception of the elephant wearing high heels that lives above me. It has gotten better over the past week. However, the first week I was certain the upstairs neighbor was practicing her runway walk promptly at 3am daily!!! Aside from that, the apt/loft is amazing. It's the nicest place I've ever lived in and it makes me feel like a real adult...scary. Not only is the place awesome, the location is great. King William is a very unique historic district with a great soul. There are several galleries, independently owned shops and restaurants and just a general alternative. It's not your run of the mill suburbia and that's what I love about it! Probably the best thing I like about this location is that I can (and do) ride my bike pretty much anywhere. Downtown is a 5 min ride, King William is 1 block over from where I live. In phoenix, i really only rode my bike with groups and when I was specifically training for races. I forgot how much I loved just riding my bike places, no real training goal in mind. For example, i rode my bike to get my hair cut last week after a very very long day of orientation. It felt so nice, other than the little fall I had, to ride a bit and "unwind" after work! Overall, in just a few short weeks, San Antonio has brought me back to my bike and makes me feel at home. I'd say that's a good sign! 

So now that I have one week until I start and am more or less settled, life is better :) The interns and residents have been really nice and helpful so far. I know it's going to be a tough year in so many ways, but I can honestly say I'm excited and grateful. 1 year ago I was in San Antonio ironically. During that time I can remember feeling like I belonged here and praying that I would match here. Well..I did! (sort of...more on this later)This year, I'm here, and praying that I STAY here. I guess we'll find out soon enough. I mean, who would be more perfect for SAUSHEC (pronounced: SAW-SHEK), than Sasha! (prounounced SAW-SHA) I mean really...can it be more obvious that this is where I'm supposed to be!? ;) 

Here are some pics from the past couple of weeks!

The outside/inside of my complex: South End Lofts 

Waiting for a red light in Downtown :) (I'm an eternal tourist)

Houston St. and St. Mary's- sitting at a starbucks 

"Beauty...it rubs against one's tongue

it hangs there hurting one. insisting on its own existence

finally it gets so one cannot stand the pain

then one must have beauty extracted..." 

- this was something i saw on a ride home recently...it's pretty interesting, still trying to figure it out

My trainer!! (and makeshift riser lol) I love it! Now I just need a new bike for riding around town :) 

 Messy and a work in progress...but it's a start

<3

Something I just realized...

I need to re-do my collage above for it's annoying me. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because some of the pics of Tim and I are stretched awkwardly and we look like fatsos.

Nothing interesting to speak of tonight. Just miss Tim a lot. I get to see him on July 1st!!! So that's great news and the countdown has begun! <3

Orientation starts tomorrow!! (gulp!)

Tomorrow the Air Force will attempt to orient, in 3 weeks, on how to be a doctor...yikes! I'm sure it's going to be a lot of briefings and trying to stay awake while they try to explain things that should only take a few minutes, in 3 hours. Nonetheless, I'm happy to get started! I'll let you know how it goes! In the meantime, this is me:

Fast forward 4 months!

In my last post, I was in a different country. And now, now only am I back in the USA, I am calling a NEW state, TX, home. LOTS has happened (i always say that) in these past 4 months, here is a list: 

- Was blown away by my awesome seester's BFA show and her work--> she is incredibly talented and I really admire her creativity and how she's following her passion.

- Graduated from medical school--> Was so happy to have my family and Tim come all the way to Kirksville, MO to share this special day. We didn't go to pricey dinner or have a crazy party. But we did spend time together, and that is more valuable to me than anything in this world.

- Became a Captain in the Air Force--> I can really get used to being called Capt Ramirez ;) 

- Saw my little brother graduate high school--> I'm so proud of him! He has grown up to be such a good boy/man but he will always be my little brown boy. 

- Went to Puerto Rico with my family and my Tim :) --> Beautiful place with my favorite people in the entire world. 

- Moved from Phoenix to San Antonio, away from Tim :( --> A very bittersweet day for us. But I know the greatest things in life are not always the easiest and everything happens for a reason. Hopefully this will make our relationship stronger than ever. 

- Started to process of planting my feet in Texas :) --> This is sort of a work in progress. I already know I love San Antonio from being here several times before. Moving in to my new place next week will be the next step. I'm so excited to design my place and explore and really make San Antonio my new home!

So, HUGE milestones going on and as always, it feels overwhelming, exciting, scary, and crazy all at the same time. It's tough to describe how it feels to be here, at this point in my life. One one hand, it's a feeling of relief and accomplishment, of, "wow, I'm DONE. I finished 20 years of school!" It is an accomplishment that is surreal still. On the other hand, I feel like things are only just beginning! It's sort of like a long, yet amazing, introduction to, what I hope will be, an equally incredible and fabulous story! 

The excitement I have for this next step and all of the steps to come is also tough to describe. It's almost like this is the moment everyone was talking about when they ask, "what do you want to do when you grow-up?" I'm grown up, it's happening right now (somewhat), but my answer to that question seems like it went from doctor, to doctor + a million other things! I have so many things I want to do in life and now that my introduction has been written, I can finally start the real story. 

Here are some of my favorite pics from the past few months :) More posts to come soon!