This is Dr. Franco, the Anesthesiologist! You might be wondering, why is she taking pics of herself at work:  the top one was for my husband so he could see me in my garb, the second was the look I wanted to give my little brother for telling me he's taking 3months to travel to Indonesia, a maternal sort of disconcern - but instead I look a little constipated. 

I love my job.  I love setting up my room in the morning, drawing up the drugs, thinking about the patient's physiology and how I'm going to give a smooth anesthetic, what is the worst thing that could happen and what will I do if it does. I love seeing my classmates during the day, because we all started out very scared, but now we're all sort of growing into it. 

One thing that totally amazes me is how much people trust us -- that really most people have no idea what Anesthesia is, or we're about to do to them -- but they just trust... and it reminds me how much people trust each other in general. 

Of all the bad stuff that goes on in the world, I still get in my car every day - have no idea how the engine was built or runs, I drive it on a road where other people are driving and could kill me at any second.  I fly on planes that somehow stay in the air, seriously, how does a giant peice of steel "take off" and float like that???  I use computers whose function still baffles me.  And I still really dont know what the internet is... is there a central computer? No idea. 

But I trust that my car will turn on magically every day, that the 'gears' will run, that no one will hit me as we drive toward each other and pass within arm's distance of each other, that the email I send in the morning will reach my sister. 

As I'm pushing 'white stuff that burns' into someone's arm that will travel through their veins to their heart, that will then pump it into the arteries that reach their brain I begin to think.  This tiny little lipid soluble molecule will diffuse across the blood brain barrier and enter the brain's vast capillary network and diffuse across these capillaries to reach the neurons - there it binds to little receptors on neurons.  When it binds these receptors it makes the neurons retarded, unable to transmit messages and the patient will 'fall asleep'.  It does not bind forever luckily, and the patient will wake up in 8-10 minutes if I give nothing else.  Most patients have no idea this is what is happening... but they dont need to know.  Just like I dont need to know exactly how a plane works to fly.  I can trust other people.  And this is nice to know... of all the gun shots and stab wounded people that come in that make me begin to hate people... in general - humanity is good... and we depend on each other's knowledge and skills to live the lives we live.  And this makes me want to be the best doctor I can be, so that people's trust is well placed. 

While some people may be bastart coated bastards with bastard filling, I do believe most people have a creamy nougety center...

That's my deep thought for the year.  Now onto our first 5 months of marriage! 

Dinner with Bri, Jake, Laurin, and Ryan at Brugge - fun.

Going to the doctor.  Loved it.

Salsa night at Adobo - tequila time!

IronMan race in Muncie with Carlos.

Fall festival in Fort Wayne, Olivia and Leah.  It was awesome because Lester and I accidentally both wore black v-necks, dark jeans, saucony shoes, and now our hair color is exactly the same... we are becoming one literally...

My mama and papa at the fall festival - love them.  My Dad is so tan from being on Lake Erie all summer.

I am so very lucky.