tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82363408745805823882024-03-14T03:23:25.717-07:00 kateyadventuresLifestyle, Travel, MedicineKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-50921677366266206132019-12-25T17:20:00.001-08:002019-12-25T17:20:53.251-08:00Doctor Kate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It finally happened! This month I officially graduated from a very long six years of university and now get to put 'Dr' in front of my name. <a name='more'></a></div>
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As is only right after completing such a tortuously long degree, we celebrated with a whole week of events including a cocktail party and a ball as well as the ceremony itself. The whole experience honestly still feels completely surreal. I felt so joyful watching my partner and friends crossing the stage (as well as walking across myself of course!), and feel so overwhelmingly proud of us all after witnessing everyone's struggles and sacrifices in getting to this point. </div>
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Here's a few happy snaps from the festivities. </div>
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The ball was a fabulous night to get dressed up and celebrate with all our loved ones. I'm so incredibly grateful to have had family travel all the way from Spain and Germany to share in these special moments. How lucky am I!</div>
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Now, it's onwards and upwards to new adventures. Unfortunately this means parting ways from a lot of my wonderful friends, but I'm fortunate enough to have my partner moving with me and working in the same hospital next year. I'm so very relieved and thankful that I will have his support with the many challenges yet to come! </div>
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Here's to being brave and taking on new adventures in 2020. </div>
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Kate x</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-34104745835464907012019-10-14T20:47:00.000-07:002019-10-14T20:47:13.439-07:00Living The Island Life | Monthly Moments September<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I've now been working up on Thursday Island for over 3 months- and what a few months I've had!<br />
I'm struggling to find the words to describe how life has been in recent weeks, as it's been wonderful but also a lot harder than expected in many aspects.<br />
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As I had been on placement here previously and felt like I knew the island and hospital pretty well, I felt like I knew what I was signing up for and was so sure of the incredible experience I was going to have. It's taken a few weeks to actually admit to myself that although many aspects are just as great as I had expected, there's also quite a few that have been a bit tough to work through.<br />
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I might go into the up and downs in a future post, but for now, hard moments included, I still have so much love for this little island and my desire to come back as a doctor remains strong. So here's a glimpse of what I've been up to in my little slice of paradise!<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggK1AgG_F3ME-bxZqL9pDMC9cjCAeE1AZK7vZ15Map4qDfMV4py-uK0WsXtgny3cBYOFVtVKtgNmIDGV4qxpyfB9MHGnWaUMm2LiIQW32qRD1U3eMY2DZ-Zz9zddvbMvQBlcsvGplMUSbd/s1600/IMG_7405.JPG" title="Fruit Bat Falls Bamaga Cape York Australia" /><br />
We have quite a busy placement roster without a huge amount of time for exploring during the week, but when I'm lucky enough to get two days off in a row I definitely take advantage of it! We've taken boat trips to pearl farms, white beaches and even all the way to the mainland to explore some beautiful waterfalls.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">Last weekend I caught my first fish! My housemate also caught one and we had a very tasty fish cook-up for dinner. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">During my time on the island I've been lucky enough to go out with the visiting doctor to the island where my parents live- not once but twice! Getting a free helicopter ride over the beautiful Torres Strait and being able to see my parents while I'm at it has definitely been the peak of my Thursday Island experience!</span></div>
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There's been countless other exciting moments over the last few months which I will of course update you on soon. For now, I just wanted to pop in and say hi after such a hectic few months that have whizzed past quicker than I can blink!</div>
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What have you been up to lately? </div>
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Kate x</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-83084175595454991442019-06-19T02:35:00.003-07:002019-06-19T02:35:55.584-07:002019 Goals Review | Halfway<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I know I run the risk of sounding like an absolute broken record, but seriously guys, can you believe just how quickly this year is flying by?<br />
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I've been quite busy in recent weeks, and have tended towards feeling a bit overwhelmed and off-track with my goals for the year. In view of us being so close to halfway through 2019(!!), I thought it would be a good idea to review my progress with all the goals I spoke about in January (if you missed that post, you can <a href="https://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-goals.html" target="_blank">find it here</a>).<br />
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I thought I'd start with the few areas that I've been making fairly good progress towards.<br />
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<b>Things I've Been Doing Well At:</b><br />
<b>Publish 2 Blog Posts Every Month-</b> I've managed to achieve this every month so far! I will admit that I've struggled to get any more than two blog posts up in most months, but I'm doing my best to stay consistent and inspired with new ideas! I'd like to think that I will be able to up the ante with this in the next few months, but I also don't want to push myself if it's not coming naturally. Fingers crossed for a good dose of inspiration and a whole lot more posts around here soon!<br />
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<b>Read 60 books-</b> I just finished my 30th book for the year, right on time! I'm currently 3 books ahead of schedule and have been for most of the year. I'm planning a Goodreads goal update in the near future, so will let you know what I've been reading and loving very soon.<br />
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<b>Declutter and Buy More Thoughtfully-</b> Although I still have a way to go with this, I've definitely made some improvements! I donated a huge pile of clothing to the Op Shops recently, and I've just joined the Slow Fashion Season aiming to buy no new clothes for 3 months. I'm quite looking forward to the challenge!<br />
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<b>Say Yes-</b> I'm actually putting this one in both sections, because I did have a few weeks at the start of the term where I felt super motivated and was pushing myself to really get involved with anything and everything I could. I really felt like it was paying off and was feeling super positive about things, but then I was hit with a bit of an anxiety patch and haven't done so well in recent weeks. I'm hoping to pick the ball up again when I start my next term and to continue making positive changes.<br />
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<b>Things I'm Still Working On-</b><br />
<b>Say Yes-</b> As I said above, I'm getting there, but there's definitely still progress to be made!<br />
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<b>Try Weekly Vlogging-</b> As I mentioned in my recent post on <a href="https://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2019/05/living-and-traveling-in-instagram-age.html" target="_blank">Living in the Instagram Age,</a> I've been feeling quite unmotivated when it comes to social media lately, and this has really been turning me off from picking up my camera. I'm hoping this is something I can give a try at some point in the next few months, but I have a feeling it may be difficult while living in shared student housing. I will just see how I go with this one!<br />
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<b>Volunteer Somewhere- </b>This is one that I just haven't got around to yet and haven't really got any solid ideas on how to achieve it. The island I'm about to move to is quite remote and I'm not too sure what opportunities will be available to me for volunteering- but who knows! I'm going to do my best to find opportunites to give back, and where better than in the small town that will be home for the next 6 months?<br />
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<b>Run 10km-</b> I have been mostly going to gym classes focussing on strength lately, so I'd really like to get back into running as well. I'm not sure what the island I'm moving to will be like for running, but I'm hoping it will be big enough to allow me some good running tracks!<br />
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<b>Make A Professional Email Address-</b> I still haven't got around to doing this, simply because I can't think of a good professional-sounding email address that is still available! Suggestions, anyone?<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">As I progress through the year and get on track with some of my goals, my focus has shifted a little and I have some new ones on my mind at the moment in addition to my original ones. Here's what I've been thinking about: </span><br />
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<li><b>Save More Money</b></li>
<li><b>Find More Balance With Fitness</b></li>
<li><b>Meal Prep at Least Once a Week</b></li>
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Thanks for sticking with me for a big ol goals chat!<br />
Did you set goals for this year, and how are they going if so? Fingers crossed we can all make some amazing achievements in the second half of 2019!<br />
Kate x<br />
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-19747681227265776252019-05-15T16:05:00.000-07:002019-05-15T16:05:09.492-07:00Living and Traveling in the Instagram Age<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As most of you will already be aware (and completely sick of hearing about!), I've recently spent 7 whole weeks traveling and studying in India having the most incredible, life changing experiences. But you know what?<br />
There's one aspect of the trip that has been weighing on my mind, and I can't help but feel a bit deflated every time it occurs to me.<br />
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Why? Well, every time I scroll Instagram lately I see all these shiny images in colourful warm tones of all the places I've recently been, and I can't help but feel a bit jealous that my photos don't look even half as good.<br />
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Before travelling to India I had a pinterest board full of places to visit and inspiration for the type of images I wanted to take. I had researched all the popular spots on Instagram and planned all the outfits that would go just right with each location. My photos would be full of colour, smiles, saris and elephants. I was finally going to start gaining back some of the followers I'm continually losing, despite my best efforts!<br />
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However, the reality of India was that the hustle and bustle, the continual chaos combined with the exhaustion of being continually on the go was just too much, and not a single one of those insta-worthy shots I had planned actually eventuated. If you were to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/katey.adventures/" target="_blank">head to my Instagram page</a> right now you'll see that I've posted just four pictures from almost two months in India, the last of these being almost two months ago!<br />
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I've become entirely uninspired by Instagram and the comparisons it encourages me to make, and although this leaves me feeling a bit deflated, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.<br />
Today, I just wanted to take a moment to point out some of the realities behind all the shiny perfect Instagram pictures, at least from what I observed during my time in India.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1k50iS-Txl4blCUVeAQhr5jKstqBDjy7uxAMqH6Sy-z6U3YOFz50mDQUvvo-SI4hTDC_kkVukdOMKvyzM_UYD-HGaQ-ALgUvJyZXBpzGrF2neEc-Z3EXoUrGBojSphV69Kes2kkevi4x/s1600/ACS_0039.JPG" /><br />
To begin with, a large proportion of the places I had on my 'to-photograph' list have become completely overrun as a result of their instagram-induced fame. A lot of them had a line of at least 5-6 people waiting to all take the exact same photo, and this really turned me off waiting in line for that very same image!<br />
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Still more of the images I had seen before traveling to India are actually incredibly dangerous, with people standing on ledges, walltops and roofs with nothing but a very long drop waiting on the other side- after seeing the place in real life, there is no way I'd be taking those risks for an instagram picture!<br />
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Additionally, there are so many of the outfits I've seen people wear that, whilst they may look good on Instagram with 3 filters layered over the top, would just be wholly inappropriate and impractical for a dusty country full of staring eyes.<br />
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Just to add to my frustration with all things photography-related, all my polaroids for the whole trip turned out either way too dark or way too light at least 60% of the time- I can't catch a break guys!<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrix1Ox4nbDTGP7M-SSUxUvJ_TV0rPQ3jn4_GftYcTaTHw38FAVzZ_DV5z0II3-75AKvcQwURGCs-jvW9X5_XhLObNbudLq6fYP0m-xs3Czn4PiEqdyRlMHynRbv8rSXC_wMjlGK4tD21/s1600/ACS_0040.JPG" /><br />
So here's one of my only successful polaroids of the trip- me hand washing a huge pile of our clothes in the shower. Nothing says "I'm a glamourous travel blogger" quite like that!<br />
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What are your thoughts on the current state of Instagram? Have you managed to keep your own inspiration despite the algorithm frustrations? If you have any tips, feel free to let me know!<br />
<br />
Kate x<br />
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-17529850873002189302019-05-04T15:26:00.002-07:002019-05-04T15:26:45.458-07:00Change In The Air | Monthly Moments April <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Can we all just breathe a big collective sigh of relief? My first three Monthly Moments for the year all started off exactly the same way (I AM SO BUSY) but finally, finally things have slowed down a bit!<br />
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It's been so lovely to be back home in familiar surroundings, catching up with friends and getting back into some sort of routine! In my earlier post I talked about all the <a href="https://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2019/04/april-goals.html" target="_blank">goals I had for April</a>, and happily I think I've slowly but surely been achieving most of them.<br />
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A big goal for this month was to get back into exercise after two months of overeating my way around India, and that got off to a good start with myself and a a friend re-joining my old gym and going to a few classes together. Unfortunately, however, I've ended up with a nasty lingering cold for the last week and a half which has completely ruined that tiny bit of progress I had made! I'm feeling quite frustrated with this and really hoping to feel better and get back into it as soon as possible.<br />
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Another new goal was in regards to my mindset about placement and trying to actively encourage myself to be more positive and put 110% effort in. Again, I was doing pretty well with this until my nasty cold came along and drained all my energy! However, overall I have definitely felt so much more positive about placement in the last few weeks than I ever did last year. Being able to stay with the same team for a whole five weeks and really get to know each other is so much nicer than being in a new place each week, and they've been getting me to do some work which I'm actually more than happy about-I need practice for next year!<br />
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I've also been making a conscious effort to recognise and celebrate the little wins and how I am feeling just a tiny bit more competent with every day that goes by. The other day I was asked to take bloods for the first time in months and got it first go with no hassles-a small but satisfying achievement.<br />
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On the subject of all things placement, I thought I'd share this sign I saw on the wall in one of our wards which made me giggle. How is it even possible for this many of the TV's to be broken at once?!<br />
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<b>Job Offers</b><br />
If you've happened to read my previous Monthly Moments this year, you will remember me talking about feverishly working on my CV and job application whilst travelling around India, then my interview the day after I got home. Well, good news- I was accepted onto the pathway!<br />
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Soon after I found out, we had to put in preferences for where we'd like to work next year. It's a bit of a complicated system, made more so by the fact that I was trying to strategise it so that my partner and I will end up in the same place! Despite having always pictured myself staying in Cairns as an intern, unfortunately it was oversubscribed with applications this year meaning it wasn't an option for me. It's been quite bittersweet walking around the hospital, running into so many doctors I know and just starting to feel confident, then knowing that I'll be having to start over in a brand new place next year!<br />
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The place I ended up applying for had equal numbers of positions available with the amount of people who applied, so I should definitely be going there- but I won't tell you until official offers are released as I don't want to jinx myself!<br />
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The image below is of the view from one of our surgical wards that I'm oh-so-familiar with after many early morning ward rounds last year. With me going to Thursday Island for the second half of the year, I'm just getting my head around the fact that this is my last 5 weeks working in Cairns Hospital for quite a long time. I'm going to miss this view!<br />
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With the sudden realisation that this is our last few weeks in Cairns, we've been trying to make the best use of our weekends and do all the things that we always said we wanted to do and haven't got around to yet. We've done lots of exploring of beaches and waterfalls and are planning a trip to Fitzroy Island tomorrow. It's been really lovely to make sure we get up to something fun on our weekends!<br />
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So, April has been a satisfying month from the perspective of working towards my goals, and the path ahead for next year is slowly becoming clearer! It definitely feels like change is in the air.<br />
How was April for you? Are things changing in your life as well?<br />
<br />
Kate x</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-37753507295722843392019-04-14T00:55:00.000-07:002019-04-14T00:55:16.436-07:00A Thrifted Book Haul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hi guys!<br />
I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted a thrift haul! I actually haven't been having the best luck at the thrift stores recently when it comes to clothing, but I've unexpectedly been having a whole heap of luck in the book sections.<br />
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Over recent months I've been getting a bit sick of reading not-so-great books that I got for free on my kindle, and I was considering caving in and spending some decent money on a big book order online. However, before I had a chance to do it I've ended up with a big pile of books all found in my local thrift stores!<br />
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I'm particularly excited about this because half of these books were the exact ones that I've wanted to read for ages and was going to order online, and I've now got them for less than quarter of the price!<br />
Here's a little look at what I found:<br />
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<b>The Midnight Watch- David Dyer ($3)</b><br />
This one has been on my list for over a year now after the attendant at a book shop recommended it to me. It involves the story of the Titanic and a fictionalised version of the role the of the ship SS Californian that was nearby on the night it sunk. I've always been struck and completely fascinated by the story of Titanic, so I'm really looking forward to getting into this one!<br />
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<b>Circe- Madeline Miller ($6)</b><br />
I can't lie, I was definitely drawn to this one initially just because of the stunning shiny copper cover! However, after a peek at the multitude of raving reviews it has on Goodreads, I knew it had to come home with me.<br />
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<b>One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest- Ken Kesey ($5)</b><br />
This one is a classic that has been on my to-read list for quite a while. I don't know a huge amount about the book and have never seen the movie, but I do know that it involves the patients in an Oregon mental hospital. Being so interested in the field of psychiatry, I think that fact alone means it's a book I should be reading!<br />
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<b>The Clockmaker's Daughter- Kate Morton ($5)</b><br />
This beautiful cover has been catching my eye every time I pass a book store, and I've been on the verge of buying it so many times...needless to say I was pretty excited to find a copy in perfect condition sitting on the shelf at my local Lifeline store! The blurb of the book makes it sound like a historical mystery of sorts, and that is something I am definitely here for.<br />
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<b>Body Positive Power- Megan Jayne Crabbe ($5)</b><br />
I've followed Megan on instagram for a long time, so I jumped at the chance to finally read her book! I've heard many people talking about how this book has revolutionised their outlook on body image and the definition of health, which I think is quite important on both a personal and professional level.<br />
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<b>The Smell Of Other People's Houses- Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock ($3)</b><br />
This was another gorgeous cover that drew me in, with an excellent Goodreads rating to go along with it. The title and setting of this book (Alaska) both intrigued me, and I can't wait to see what the story is like.<br />
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<b>The Little Breton Bistro- Nina George ($4)</b><br />
I initially picked this book up with my sister in mind, as she did a six-month exchange in Brittany and I thought this might be one she would appreciate! I'm just reading it in the meantime until I have a chance to give it to her, haha. I'm about halfway through this one and enjoying it so far.<br />
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Have you read any of these? What's the best book you've read recently? I'd love some recommendations for when I'm through with this big pile!<br />
Kate x<br />
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<i>If you'd like to keep up with what I think of these books and what else I've been reading, feel free to give me a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63415908-kate-reid" target="_blank">follow on Goodreads.</a></i></div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-36029927793000256852019-04-02T04:57:00.001-07:002019-04-02T04:57:07.727-07:00April Goals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hi guys!<br />
Happy first of April! I'm starting onto my new rotation on the first of the month, which feels like quite a nice opportunity for a fresh start. After a whirlwind first 3 months of the year (it's a quarter gone already?! HOW) I'm very much excited to settle for a bit and get some good routines going!<br />
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As much as I love to travel, the fast pace and constant changes of such a long trip can really wear me down after a while. My soul is seriously craving some structure after all the crazy! So, here's how I plan to get some structure back in my life and get back to being my happiest and healthiest self.<br />
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<b>Blog Goals:</b><br />
<b>Publish At Least 3 Blog Posts</b><br />
My goal for the year was two posts per month, and thankfully I've just been scraping in and managing to achieve that while travelling! I'm hoping that being around home with a bit more time on my hands will give me a bit more time to devote to my blog and improving the quantity and quality of my posts. I often feel that I could be more creative in my photography and the topics I write about, so this could be a great opportunity to start diversifying my content a little bit!<br />
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<b>Engage In Networking More</b><br />
Are twitter chats still a thing?! I can't seem to find many that actually happen these days, which I found a bit disappointing. They were always difficult for me seeing as they're all organised in the northern hemisphere, with the time difference meaning that I have to either be up really early or late in order to join them. However, they were always such a good opportunity to chat with other bloggers and like-minded people which I found really refreshing.<br />
Twitter chats aside, I'd like to engage and leave more comments when I genuinely enjoy things that others create!<br />
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<b>Study Goals:</b><br />
<b>Approach Placement Positively</b><br />
Somewhat understandably, with the prospect of final exams looming on the horizon, my approach to placement last year was a 'get in, get out' state of mind with hopes to get myself home to study as early as possible. As someone who otherwise loves to stay at placement for as long as they'll have me to make sure I can make the most of any possible learning experiences, and just to be helpful if I can, I found this approach to be very emotionally draining. I'm so relieved to have reached this stage where I have nothing else on my mind except making the most of my time and learning as much as possible in the hospital! I found it hard to 'click' with many of my teams last year, but I'm really hoping that refreshed, stress-free 2019 Kate is able to impress them much more than the worn-out Kate of 2018!<br />
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<b>Life Goals:</b><br />
<b>Get Back To Exercise</b><br />
I've come back from India at least 5kg heavier, and I really wish that was a joke! One of my goals for the year was to be able to run 10km, so I think it's about time I started training for that. I was really getting into the gym towards the end of last year so I'm actually quite excited to get back into it!<br />
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<b>Keep Up With Reading</b><br />
I've been doing pretty well with sticking to my Goodreads goal of 60 books for the year, I've read 20 so far. I'm hoping to keep the momentum going!<br />
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<b>Start Looking For Graduation Dresses!</b><br />
To stick with the theme of organising and trying to get my life together, it's about time I start looking for my graduation outfits. We have at least four events during our graduation week, and I have pretty specific ideas in my head of what I'd like to wear for each...I just have to find them! Considering I'll be living on a remote island for the majority of the rest of the year, I should definitely be making the most of my time at home to check out the dress shops!<br />
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Whew, what a list! Fingers crossed that we all have a super fun and productive April ahead of us. What are your plans and goals for the month ahead?<br />
Kate x</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-12359603526766591322019-03-29T14:44:00.003-07:002019-03-29T14:44:35.283-07:00Tea Plantations and Job Applications | Monthly Moments March<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hi guys!<br />
Let's just move past the assumption that I've done the whole 'ohh I'm so ~busy~' thing and get to it shall we?<br />
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If I'm honest, this month looked a lot like the last one- travelling around India whilst madly trying to finish uni assignments at every available train journey, plane flight and spare moment! Oh, and also trying to keep up with my blog and reading goals for the year on the side.<br />
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<b>Travel</b><br />
The first three weeks of the month were spent in India. We managed to tick off a whole lot of places in both the north and south, staying everywhere from beaches to tea plantations, and went for an amazing hike in the Himalayas. I'll have seperate posts about each of the places we went, so won't give too much away now. However, needless to say, it was seriously the adventure of a lifetime!<br />
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<b>My First Job Application</b><br />
Just in case all my assignments weren't stressing me out enough, I also did my first job application and interview this month! I'm applying for a particular pathway that will help me get into a rural generalist program later on, so it's very exciting but terrifying to finally be at this stage of my degree! I had to write an 800 word submission for the application which took me a while to get done, but I submitted it just in time and breathed a massive sigh of relief. My interview was at the start of this week, the day after I got home from India, and I think it went pretty well despite my slight jet lag! There's always questions you think you could have answered better but on the whole it was a pretty informal chatty interview and the panel were so friendly. So keep your fingers crossed for me on the 9th of April when we will find out if we get offers!<br />
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<b>Heading Homewards & Holi Party</b><br />
When we flew back into Australia we came via Adelaide so we could visit my partner's family. We had a lovely relaxing few days and were very lucky to be there in time for some friend's Holi party. Holi is a massive festival in India, the 'festival of colour' that occurs to celebrate the coming of Spring, and I'm sure you will have seen images before of everyone throwing colour at each other. We had a fantastic time and I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet some more family friends in Adelaide and have some fun together!<br />
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<b>Finally Home</b><br />
After all that fun I finally flew back to home and my Mumma bear! We haven't had much time to relax as we've been trying to organise a place to live for the next ten weeks (the place we had organised fell through just before getting back to Aussie), but that's all sorted now. Next we get the fun of cleaning and moving in!<br />
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While I'm getting all these things sorted, the new semester is rapidly approaching! I start five weeks with the Endocrine team on Monday, so I'm busy revising all things diabetes and insulin before I get there.<br />
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Although I am sad to be leaving my Indian adventures behind, I can't deny that I'm very pleased to be home in my own bed and able to get a bit more structure back in my life. I've got big plans for the next couple of months, so keep an eye out for my April Goals coming soon.<br />
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Here's to a goal-kicking and productive month ahead for us all!<br />
What did you get up to in March?<br />
Kate x</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-56014993910041012952019-03-18T20:51:00.001-07:002019-03-18T20:51:43.111-07:00Golden Temple Amritsar | India Adventures<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAzpKmp5TOx_IIrOgNyZlNwJoE79rNKDH3WaOk2uLyI8dM1Q3UJ6F7JeBUwxpNTzC7mH3mMcR2VGksSvJD-Q-CF4ZCzjWZUqGATP9ULXmVjIEGaKODBwgS7uKgJ7EEuwxfhyphenhyphenmCnkzg28Lq/s1600/ACS_0010.JPG" /><br />
Hi guys!<br />
I'm so excited to share the first instalment of my India Adventures with you! I've been in India for a whole three and a half weeks already, and it continues to surprise, impress and entertain me every day.<br />
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Most of our time so far has been taken up with completing our observership placement at the hospital, but our weekends have been free to go exploring...and exploring we have gone! Last weekend we visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and it was just as stunning as the name makes it sound.<br />
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A few quick practical notes for anyone who is looking to visit the temple, before I get into the good stuff!<br />
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<li>Being a Gurdwara (Sikh temple), there is no entrance fee to get into the temple</li>
<li>There are no shoes allowed within the temple- but there are places to store your shoes before you go inside that are pretty reliable. </li>
<li>Both men and women alike should cover their heads inside the temple complex. We brought along scarves for this, but you can buy head coverings everywhere outside the temple very cheaply if you wish to (like the orange ones people are wearing in the below photo). </li>
<li>You will wash your hands and feet on the way inside the complex and before going into the Langar area (where you eat). </li>
<li>You'll have to be prepared for lines and crowds anytime you go-from what I've heard there aren't really any particularly quiet times to visit, as with most destinations in India. </li>
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8HzXv_3RgTfjeBpViva-HGFbXRMW-FFBfgV_o3ZMuEv3SLftnYC3KeTkzaIdVNj4YC_I37jQhlZU3ODCbWThE0Zaq3chHz5U6eICjaJDi4Guyy7TPJAnyLAYo0MG_mjTyZRCyrs2iyFn/s1600/ACS_0013.JPG" /><br />
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We arrived at the Golden Temple (otherwise known as the Harmandir Sahib) at about 10 AM, and as you can see from the photo below, it was pretty packed with people already. However, despite the throngs of people I was still struck by the peaceful atmosphere when entering the grounds. As you step through the gates there is gentle music playing and a strong sense of respect in the air. Your bare, freshly washed feet trace the cool tiles knowing so many have done so before.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgl7DqfauSPExbu5sSNRT1ymh4VSToaelEEi-5GZQOX2UZ4LEqDJYcOBnAjN1WZm6Z7id-c96MXOEIDMpU1KfnBekLBGhTjwRJu8h6F8PatUFywOCh0d06R4JaYJgyF2evoaKvM3SD_kX/s1600/ACS_0016.JPG" /><br />
In the week before our visit to the temple, we were somewhat disappointed at being told that photos had supposedly recently been banned everywhere at the Golden Temple (you can actually see the sign banning them in the first photo). However, there didn't seem to be any enforcement of this while we were there. Absolutely everyone was taking photos, and we were encouraged to by our guide who was an official temple attendant.<br />
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I believe the aim of 'banning' photos is to avoid people visiting only for the photo opportunity and missing the enormous religious significance of the temple, which I can completely understand. With that in mind, my advice would be to be respectful with your photo taking. I personally didn't feel comfortable taking much more than a couple of photos and felt that I achieved a decent balance of photo-taking and just taking in the moment.<br />
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On that note, photos are completely banned within the actual temple itself and even in the line to go inside I saw this being strictly enforced.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWRKapXQWb0IbOt8Lyi7YgUP5VA_cIMV89FXDFKvvfnoFenq_GG86csZySFpiIDMwgRg_vGQvkldORUbuR52P4N8RoVTjIvxXdxXoPA7Gx1x3n0ZLHS38cVtMfMp3S_HW3WRTVvXsEwLf/s1600/ACS_0021.JPG" /><br />
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One aspect of the Golden Temple that I was completely unaware of before our visit is the huge Langar community-run kitchen and dining hall that it holds. The Langar is something that you will find in any Sikh temple, but what makes this one so special is the sheer magnitude of the operation they run. Here anyone can sit and eat as equals, no matter of their race or religion. It is completely run by volunteers and houses the most enormous cooking pots I have seen in my life!<br />
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I'll admit that I was a little sceptical about actually eating at the Langar, being a bit scared of food safety on my first weekend in India. However, the food was (so far as I can tell) safe and hygienic despite us all sitting on the floor to eat it! It was hot and very tasty, and none of our sensitive foreign bellies got sick afterwards.<br />
Even if you're not planning on eating there, I'd recommend seeing this part of the temple as seeing the scale and speed of food preparation and the size of the pots was truly mind blowing!<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4bTJPy2k9PjgFVe2hEkY07FCkqJXFr7U34aoZaViqKJks1TsplHcEWLiqoQy7om9txTDqRNmMldh-egxyjaY7VekVzkskMcY82-XFiouDz_skoQIZI8FSbFHv8VUI8238FJ5b8oTiOEe/s1600/ACS_0017.JPG" /><br />
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After leaving the temple, there are lots of shops to wander past and explore, where you can buy anything from Punjabi Jutti (traditional Punjabi shoes) to scarves and sweets.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwfCwQSXG80VxZkFFjywOdt7kBk9MUtbOYqtszUTSuvrPyZjWPplWHYYciQGn6Vp6_bPd5Zvv4Eo3MHKBMi6xn_JJZ4JxrfmxYjKBPLdRCTf9qH_jK2hK6aTdoWTTdtY3_J2DIgn_BvKZ/s1600/ACS_0020.JPG" /><br />
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After a wonderful morning of exploring, we stopped at the restaurant Haveli (meaning mansion) on the way out of town. Haveli is a 'chain' restaurant of sorts-there are three locations, two of which we have tried and loved. It's a traditional Punjabi restaurant, with only vegetarian food...but the best vegetarian food you'll ever have!<br />
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Both Haveli restaurants that we have visited had incredible food, very affordable prices and amazing service and atmosphere. I would absolutely recommend a trip there if you're in the area!<br />
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<img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRLGmtqCm3kTG1SjIQjYYdGnQUAt0sktG8HjMITwFsCypQULLCKlo11p_Qo0_1VhnkLh310pTXnYiB6xZy-QGTbz9P80KtcimZ1hDKn7JuNBVCvPF2_YUnRpe9n9lGNv9uh-fxAgBp1Tw4/s640/ACS_0019.JPG" width="640" /><br />
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We returned home very full and happy after a day of spiritual experiences...both food related and otherwise!<br />
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Have you visited the Golden Temple, or do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-81216295078986975232019-02-27T18:17:00.000-08:002019-02-27T18:17:20.996-08:00Roti & Chai | Monthly Moments Feb '19<br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0S8VRLlHpMMCO3eJPOb3QAV0lOc2xp6riP3GsmmsLWkCN6V2Q2zFoMIrVHSzC2zQVmby9G2yisjzedkhPSJao2OCSo-KceaTNfAalH_T6jhdz-BlGkoWT7m3Hl6oephj19_xg7jvXXbx4/s1600/ACS_0030.JPG" />Hi guys!<br />
OK, I definitely called it. Remember <a href="https://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2019/02/mountains-visas-coffee-monthly-moments.html" target="_blank">last month</a> when I said I had the feeling that this year was going to keep flying by at a hectic pace? Boy, was I right! February has more than lived up to those expectations.<br />
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<b>Placement</b><br />
We've spent most of the month within the walls of the local hospital completing our elective placement. My friend and I have been placed in Obstetrics and Gynaecology together and have been really enjoying the experience and the challenges! As you would expect, a lot of the patient interactions happen in hindi or punjabi, but we've still managed to keep up fairly well as all the notes are written in english, which leads to us peering over the shoulders of the doctors while they write and trying to work out what's happening. We've been able to observe lots of interesting surgeries and procedures we wouldn't have seen at home; like IVF planning and egg retrievals, which is all within the private system back in Australia.<br />
It's also quite a novelty to get to wear a white coat as that's not something doctors do at home!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8RuKoNlJsZfhZ5gzfFX4FukDtRLUUGHIXj2dVsY9Qj_YTmAPVQ68EPCZQCTdVra27S5APOQ-5nWkuv24cLNRV2yST7JX-3N0p7imFaLttMbvxjgUJyA9KJo3h2yBaTVUZwDXFd3Fl_I_5/s640/IMG_6012.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="379" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snazzy shoes they make you wear in the operating theatre in India</td></tr>
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<b>Exploring</b><br />
I'm actually writing this from my train seat travelling from Jaipur to Udaipur, how exciting! Although most of our week days have been consumed with running around the hospital trying to find our supervisor, the weekends have been free to actually explore India! We're now doing some more travelling and have so far visited Agra (and the Taj!), Jaipur and very soon Udaipur. Next we'll be heading to the south of India to the lands of tea fields and beaches, which I am excessively excited about. I've been surprised by how much I've loved Indian food and how well I've handled the spice so far; my GI system is sensitive at the best of times so I had a feeling this would be a bit of a test! My usual coffee addiction has been fully replaced with a Chai addiction, and I'm really not complaining. You will definitely be hearing all the details about my adventures once I find the time to write about them all!<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjems7gHR25lwE6MPPk1INnvxLrU4Mo_ko8EYLKbXbzo7WBc0OKHBd1pgjHU_dg2Nao2U2H536L3ajeAAy0-FfZA9mKLB4KnOH6VLh-cy5xRkvwRUb9v3nOeUXhPvvMcdMm_Rtu8eJBOzNQ/s1600/ACS_0029.JPG" /><br />
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<b>Assignments</b><br />
Unfortunately, this being a university trip and not just a holiday, I still have a lot of work to attend to while we're away. The downside of us having no exams during this sixth year is that they have been replaced with twice as many assignments to complete!<br />
Being so far removed from our normal university life and not being able to attend all our regular lectures while we're away has meant that we actually didn't know about one of our assignments until about a week before it was due which has been ~very~ stressful to fit in around all our other adventures. I'm very much looking forward to getting most things submitted within the next week so we can travel and explore in peace!<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRw2yGFNXMgc4PyTpSCg6RkGoM9LHEZlv0Hr-wUI0QCpgq4xCuIbLYzvwMTBMiOwcxd-sHOGchAV0WFC_SvlUamv50c3nu8ncFZQYBc0KJk4WOVSOcJ9lRLTLtEpCGzTd9OfubdV20fqZ/s1600/DSC00684.jpg" /><br />
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So, how did your February go? Did you try any new foods or experiences this month? </div>
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See you in March for more stories from India!</div>
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Kate x</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-51775373927030753882019-02-14T05:24:00.000-08:002019-02-14T05:24:17.635-08:00Mountains, Visas & Coffee| Monthly Moments Jan' 19 <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrdH2gBwZNkS1M2lvQ623UW440FktJrEJFfvcF74EiP6c7yGky4uA8UgMki-QOmGUvrkFF0n0zqu014StVl2VCANi_JoHnCdTjobJppanAdtHh2teXfG-Ubo5gfH1bxSI8txnk_hpJ3Nat/s1600/ACS_0008.JPG" /><br />
Hi guys!<br />
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Well, after all the time I spent telling you what a <a href="https://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2018/12/monthly-moments-december.html" target="_blank">huge December I had</a>, January was obviously feeling a bit left out and has <i>seriously</i> done it's best to outdo it. This month has been so flippin busy! Just looking over all the things I've been up to as I type this explains why I feel like I need a nice big glass of wine and a two-day nap. I have a lot of moments to get through, so without any further ado, let's get in to it.<br />
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I slept my way through the countdown to midnight on the 31st December for the first time I can remember this(last?) year, but it was for a good cause. We laced up our boots and went for an overnight hike up the mountain on new year's day, so I needed my sleep! I'll have a full post about the hike up on the blog soon, but it involved many river crossings, track detours and precipitous ledges that I will fill you in on.<br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubfXQSr4dsum4aVik96cjlV7cEjAd1WDCKpzaQPwGxV6Ufanor_y2MAARbE0FbuhvwtPEtk-8LCshmysvC9omVzP4KijYg8BYu-PHO-Bn5CSCwTomOOZmiQx356fzXQjsI0jeUGRjEW2d/s1600/IMG_0343.JPG" /><br />
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We travelled back from New Zealand in the first week of January, and my real worries started to brew. I wasn't able to send away my passport for my Indian visa whilst overseas, so I had to send off my application once I arrived back in Australia with just 8 days to spare before my flight to India. The average processing time is 5 days with extra time for postage on either side, so I had vague hopes that it may miraculously happen in time but these soon faded. Daily phone calls to the embassy and airline resulted in cancelled flights and becoming all-too-familiar with their hold music before my visa finally arrived 5 days later than my original flight was destined to depart. Although frustrating, at the end of the day the whole situation could have turned out a whole lot worse, and I've definitely learnt my lesson about applying for visas in time!<br />
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It wasn't all bad though- in the midst of the stress of waiting for my elusive visa, I had a lot of time to kill trying to keep my mind off the situation. I had a coffee catch up with my 'study' group from last year that never did all that much study together and it was so lovely to be able to spend time together free from the impending doom of exams! I also tried to do lots of life organising with my spare time, and got inspired to do a whole lot of sorting and tidying in my room after watching Marie Kondo's Tidying Up series.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdgybLroh97Rbi5w3_ivSez1JmFoD82x5TNlQaaiQWPJBaMjHHJIy0MOW7cB4rKPpvoaq__mGIvjw8sp0QiS5rqw91wOkO61gy-8HoPSwv0Ml4zbUUhAiF7JFXMdrcgKPMwqfAEuQkDhXi/s1600/IMG_0091.JPG" /><br />
And then, just when the final vestiges of my patience had been used up, what should arrive in the post but my long awaited passport and shiny new visa! After a frantic morning of phone calls and packing I boarded my flight to Delhi the very next morning. It was a joy to step out of the airport at 6AM to a chilly breeze and the waiting arms of my friends!<br />
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To round out the month, I celebrated my 22nd Birthday on the 29th. The day itself wasn't my most festive birthday of all time as it was mostly filled with stressful last-minute organising of our placement and our first foray into the hospital which left me feeling completely overwhelmed! However, it was very special to spend a birthday with my new-found indian side of the family and they treated me to the most incredible cake!<br />
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From the way things have been panning out, it looks like my 2019 is going to keep bucketing along at this pace, so here's to many more adventures and hopefully also some sleep-ins on the horizon soon!<br />
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How was your January? Was it as crazy as mine?<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-75464329445643549652019-01-25T22:17:00.000-08:002019-01-25T22:17:18.166-08:002019 Goals<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswpJ70xYbmPBUFKbuXo4TMFI923EbzjW7iT2SKWglpALwttFULv5xU_vNxs7Lh10cpHnxR1v_8IW5_7hlyAAud-5fB1kI4s8lyEibcyzZGJMGQtNaS49z_cIiD2m9sHSenhAKWZy3Klux/s1600/ACS_0006.JPG" /><br />
Hey guys! Here we are at the start of another year ready for another set of new goals and opportunities!<br />
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If I'm honest, I'm not really buying into the whole 'new year, new me' thing as I'm actually quite happy how I am at the moment, <i>thank you very much</i>! All jokes aside, I was quite proud that I was able to set some realistic goals (which I think is more than half of the struggle) and actually achieve them last year. However, going into 2019 knowing that I will have a lot more time on my side this year, I hope to 'level up' in several aspects of my life. Always striving to better your best and all that!<br />
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I'm excited at the prospect of this year because for the first time in a while it will be <i>different.</i> My last 5 years have followed a pretty similar pattern of study, exams and uni holidays but that will all be turned around this year! I officially have no exams left and will be spending a huge chunk of my year away from home, travelling to India and Singapore and then spending 6 months on a remote island in the Torres Strait at the tip of Australia!<br />
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With no exams taking up all my energy and brain space, I have hopes to sustain a lot more balance in my life this year and make more time for pursuing my creative hobbies. Starting, of course, with this blog!<br />
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<b>Blog Goals:</b><br />
<b>Publish at least 2 posts per month</b><br />
I was so proud that I managed to stay consistent and post at least once every month last year, even in the midst of my final exams! It doesn't sound like a that much, but considering I'd disappeared off the face of the internet for a few months every year previously I felt like it was a really good achievement! I'd like to hope there will be more than 2 per month this year, but keeping in mind that I will be travelling and might not have the best access to internet I think 2 is the best number to aim for.<br />
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<b>Take more photos</b><br />
I say this every year lol, but considering how much traveling and exploring I'll be doing this year, you better hope I'm capturing it all! My last year of my medical degree is something I'm sure I'll want to have captured to look back on in years to come.<br />
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<b>Try Weekly Vlogging</b><br />
This month I have officially joined the Canon G7x owner's club! Right now I honestly have no clue how to use my sparkling new camera, and I'm at that stage where I'm still scared to even pick it up in case I drop it. I've wanted to try vlogging for quite a long time, and considering I now have the right camera for it I've got no excuses for not giving it a good shot! (haha, get it) Even if it's terrible and I don't publish it anywhere publicly, I'm sure I'll be glad to have it recorded.<br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-j2oobsRAq1DEP-ND6989H0kZL8P5dIU4hpxqqDcLVRC4eaBLb2bluH-KFWHmFigNq7XyibmJgL8IJT6i32bRcXe3DnPdmpkFQVThpV27wocB0Dq54xBoh58mC4LgER7dKgjxZUp-sjjG/s1600/DSC_0020.JPG" /><br />
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<b>Study Goals:</b><br />
<b>Say Yes</b><br />
This is a goal that applies both to my studies and in everyday life as well.<br />
Over my past five years of medical school I've had to focus more on learning theoretical knowledge than practical skills, but I'm finally at the point where I have no exams and a whole year to practice. When I've been offered the opportunity to learn or practice a skill in the past, I've always thought that there will be another opportunity to learn it later on, but this is my final chance to build up my skills in a safe environment before I'm an actual doctor! It's always scary and stressful learning new things but at the end of the day I'm going to have to learn it at some point, so I may as well get good at it now.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfjwclGxbIPhbuFGNYv8f2ju-IxtGJY_rUxxbySLXfhrWdSPStNdODbf29QAyGDtEjoAzIdyA9pY5jhfUYn0EbvtxX4IXpXXCSwStaNj7GA5ioEnXeAah_h4giPIcCVslFjizosjPCxr7/s1600/DSC_0029.JPG" /><br />
<b>Life Goals:</b><br />
<b>Read at least 60 books</b>- The highest I've previously achieved in one year was 52 so fingers crossed for 60 this year!<br />
<b>Make a professional adult email-</b> Surely I'm not the only one who still has their original ever-so-embarrassing teenage email address because it's too much hassle to change it? Considering I'm going to be an actual doctor at the end of the year I think it's about time I updated this!<br />
<b>Volunteer somewhere-</b> As I mentioned previously, the past few years have been jam packed with study and exams, but with more time on my hands this year I'd really like to start giving back!<br />
<b>Run 10km- </b>This has been a goal in the back of my mind for quite a while so I thought I should probably write it down to hold myself accountable! The longest I've previously run was 8km but that was a few years ago, so it will take some training to get myself up to this level again.<br />
<b>Continue exploring methods of being environmentally conscious- </b>This is on everyone's list this year, isn't it?! I definitely became more aware of my environmental impacts in 2018, and I'd really like to continue learning about and implementing some of these strategies this year.<br />
<b>Declutter and buy more thoughtfully-</b> AKA what every single person wants to do with their life right now after watching Marie Kondo's series on Netflix! This follows along the lines of wanting to be more environmentally conscious as well. I currently have a massive pile of clothes sitting in my room ready to donate or sell, so at least the decluttering goal is going well!<br />
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Aaaand that's about it for my 2019 goals. What are you hoping to achieve this year? Are any of your goals similar to mine?<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-51989163671781710232019-01-11T21:46:00.002-08:002019-01-11T21:46:55.395-08:00A Week In The Life Of A Medical Student | Paediatrics Rotation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi guys!<br />
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This is a post that's been in the works for a long old while, as I wrote it back in August last year whilst on my paediatrics rotation but then completely forgot to polish and post it with all the rush of final exams that caught up with me <i>very</i> quickly. I hope you'll forgive me for posting it now that I finally have time to edit it! This was my very first week of the new rotation so it was my first opportunity to get my head around all things kid-related! Let's take a look at what a typical week was like on the paediatrics team.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><b>Monday: </b><br />
Monday wasn't too full-on as it was our first day of the rotation. In the morning we had an introductory session from the rotation coordinator, where she explained the expectations and practicalities of the rotation as well as giving us some hints as to what topics we should be focussing on learning for the exams. After that session we had about 15 minutes break, just enough for me to run and grab a sandwich from the staff cafe right at the other end of the hospital.<br />
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While scoffing my sandwich I attended the paediatric X-Ray meeting which happens every Monday to review all the interesting imaging results from the last week. The whole team including most of the consultants and the leading radiologist go to the meeting so it was a good chance for us to introduce ourselves as the new faces around the department for the next 6 weeks.<br />
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In the afternoon I went to my usual Monday afternoon 'Flip Out' gym class which I really love. Most of the exercises involve tyres, whether it be bench pressing them or flipping them, hence the name of the class! In the evening I cooked dinner for my housemates and even managed to convince myself into doing a bit of study before bedtime.<br />
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<b>Tuesday: </b><br />
Today I was on placement with the Hospital In The Home (HITH) team. This meant hanging out with one of the nurses for the morning and getting to go out on home visits which was exciting. The HITH team will often do regular visits for families who had a premature baby, as they generally need lots of extra attention even once they've gone home, so I got to see lots of cute babies! It was actually a fairly quick round of visits for the morning and I was home by about 11.30 AM in time to make myself a nice lunch and get some good study in before I attended a committee meeting for the rural health club in the evening.<br />
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<b>Wednesday:</b><br />
Woohoo, I had Wednesday pretty much completely off to do as I pleased!<br />
For full disclosure, I really didn't do as much study as I should have, but I did spend most of the morning getting frustrated and filling in endless forms for my overseas placements later in the year.<br />
After I finished my forms I was finding myself procrastinating study quite a bit, so put on my timer for an hour to force myself into getting some work done. I managed to finish the hour but it was a struggle, with my brain wanting to get distracted every 2 minutes! It was just one of those days but at least I tried, right?<br />
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<b>Thursday:</b><br />
Thursday was a biiiig day! My first stop was at the hospital for the paediatrics handover at 8AM. It was very entertaining finding my way to the handover room as I'd never been there before- it's in the back of about 3 weird twisting corridors, and to top it off all the lights were off at the time I arrived (it keeps the environment nicer for the babies while they're sleeping).<br />
After listening to handover I headed across the road to the private clinics as I was rostered with one of the private paediatricians for the day. We saw two very cute babies for their six week checks and I wrote the notes for both the consultations.<br />
After those consults were through I headed back over to the hospital for lunch and sat in on a teaching session about tuberculosis, which was actually really interesting!<br />
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For the rest of the afternoon I sat in with the same paediatrician for his public patients, and got to see a couple of patients on my own and write plenty of notes. It's always good to feel like you're actually being helpful and achieving something with your time!<br />
I got home about 6pm tired but satisfied, and spent the evening watching the Bachelor with my housemates and getting great joy out of making fun of all the contestants together!<br />
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<b>Friday:</b><br />
I had the morning off on Friday but unfortunately had a bit of a slow start as I woke up with a headache. I took some panadol and distracted myself for a while watching some youtube videos about places to travel in India.<br />
I felt a lot better after relaxing for a bit, so went for a run in the rain along the esplanade to refresh myself. Before my tutorial at 12.30 I also did a bit of planning for the weekend ahead, writing my to-do list and tidying up my room (I explain how I like to prepare for the weekend on a Friday in my <a href="https://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2018/07/how-i-maximize-my-weekends.html" target="_blank">How I Maximize My Weekends post here!</a>)<br />
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After my tutorial I had bedside teaching with one of the senior paediatricians, where a small group of us students go to see a patient together and get tips on improving our history and examination skills. I felt quite sorry for the poor little boy and his family that we saw, as the doctors hadn't yet worked out what was going on and they were clearly quite stressed with the situation! However I do know that they have since found a diagnosis and are on their way to improving his condition, which is a relief. That brought my first week of paeds to an end.<br />
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So that was my experience in my first week of paediatrics! I'm quite enjoying paeds so far, as it's never the kid's fault when they're sick so it makes it much easier to be empathetic. I've got to cuddle so many cute babies as well!<br />
Next week I'm on evening shifts, which contrary to what some might think, I'm actually really looking forward to! Our evening shifts don't actually go all that late, so it will free up my mornings to be productive as I like without leaving me too tired from late evenings. Happy days!<br />
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I'd love to know what a typical week in your life looks like and how it differs to mine, so do let me know in the comments! Is this what you thought the life of a paediatric doctor would be like?<br />
Kate x<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-29393505732235102962019-01-02T21:52:00.001-08:002019-01-02T21:52:31.777-08:002018 In Review<br />
<b> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOko63kMfKvBN-b1a-AVkrY1AFrOn8l5Ai2SMdhELoMl2KMj4aCLl2WVBaczPeOuZK8eWPy93yhp4WyTJs5QLsI5tgjeqxeJc_0WD6-2M8N_0r4o_V29hsMdobvXOiCL453GlNxHDyGNzR/s1600/IMG_1901.jpg" /></b><br />
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<b>What a crazy year it's been! Here's a little look at the highlights of 2018. </b></div>
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<a name='more'></a><b>January:</b><br />
January was a busy month! My uni holidays were much shorter this year and I started back at placement again quite early in January. I started my General Practice rotation, helped my boyfriend move house, and had a big party in the backyard to celebrate my 21st birthday!<br />
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<b>February:</b><br />
My boyfriend and I went for a very spontaneous trip to the beach for Fish and Chips and discovered a new favourite takeaway place. We managed to catch the most gorgeous sunset while we were there!<br />
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We also had a rather cute homemade valentines dinner of salmon and roast veges that was so amazingly tasty!<br />
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I started on my Mental Health rotation near the end of the month and discovered that I really seemed to enjoy it!</div>
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<b>March:</b><br />
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I continued on my psychiatry term and absolutely loved it, and happily all the doctors also seemed to love me! I'm definitely considering it as a future speciality choice now.<br />
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The local book store had a massive sale with all the books for $5 so I bought a few, then went back a couple of days later and bought more! Big Magic was my fave out of all the ones I bought.<br />
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I also continued my tradition of going slightly OTT with decorations and decked out our living room for Easter.<br />
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<b>April:</b><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5OxKRcAAltKEkn6cukeCWvGbPiKs7x8VcItPqOVKtUPv4PKiHAWZttPKQa2OVgVJFHcMlwigiro3p1yv-TGr1jKH-uFTdc-d9RIBANWFPcy-Q5YSgaQR3k75DOSwRRgEkYupoqbgkCUQ/s1600/IMG_2812.JPG" /><br />
After a solid 13 weeks of placement, I had my first break of the year. I had two weeks off and went to visit my boyfriend and his family in Adelaide. We explored the city and went for a lovely weekend trip away to the beach. It was colder than I'd expected but a really nice change from the North Queensland heat!<br />
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I also got to meet up with one of my friends from high school times which was so nice!<br />
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Once I got back to real life I started on my Surgery rotation which I had been dreading since the start of the year. We still made time for a weekend trip to explore Mossman Gorge though!<br />
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<b>May:</b><br />
May was another massive month! I successfully managed to survive my surgery rotation, somehow. As I'd been dreading I did get my fair share of mean surgeons and not-so-nice comments, but I took it one day at a time and made it out the other side thankfully! I always knew surgery wasn't the path for me, so although I'd hoped I might be proved wrong, I always knew it was a rotation I would just have to get through.<br />
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On a much happier note, I got to share one of my great passions with my boyfriend-I finally took him sailing! I sailed twice a week for most of my high school time and absolutely adored it, so it was really exciting to be able to introduce it to someone new! </div>
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Another weekend, another trip- we went camping with some friends! We fitted 5 of us and lots of gear in the ute and had great fun in rainforests, beaches, waterfalls and everything in between all in 2 days. It was a great opportunity to relax and not think about uni for a little while.<br />
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This month my rotations for 2019 were confirmed and I got the very exciting news that I will be spending half the year on Thursday Island and a lot of the rest of the year in India!<br />
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<b>June:</b><br />
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I started on my Medicine rotation, which was very interesting but so complicated!</div>
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My parents finally came home from their few months away in Europe and the whole family was reunited for a brief but lovely time!<br />
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One of my favourite events, the Lifeline $2 sale, came back to Cairns and I scored some awesome bargains! You can check out that <a href="https://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2018/06/everything-2-thrift-haul.html" target="_blank">thrift haul here </a>if you haven't seen it.<br />
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<b>July:</b><br />
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I finally had another break after a very stressful OSCE. This time I went to visit my bestie in her new home in Newcastle! We had an amazing finally catching up, going to movies and having a christmas in july party!<br />
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I also got to meet her boyfriend's adorable border collies which was definitely a highlight of the trip!<br />
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Once I got home I was really starting to feel the stress of exams looming and struggled to keep my anxiety in check for a few weeks. A really nice ray of sunshine during the stressful times was one of our friends from the first year of uni coming back to Australia. We were reunited for the briefest of times but it was so lovely!</div>
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I also organised for our rural health club to attend a fun run and it made for a super energetic start to our Saturday morning!</div>
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<b>August:</b><br />
I started on my Paediatrics rotation while in August which I found very enjoyable. Both my study and stress were ramping up a bit by now, but I still tried very hard to keep some balance and do some nice things on the weekends! My family and I went camping at Davies Creek for a couple of nights and did a really cool hike which was fun!<br />
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My study group met for coffee to discuss how we were going to tackle preparing for exams, and on the way home we took a nice detour to the botanic gardens for a bit of exploring.<br />
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I also spent a big chunk of this month stressing and preparing for our rural health club's big gala ball. I was in charge of decorations which gave me plenty of headaches, but we got there in the end and I think it turned out pretty nice!</div>
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At the end of the month I booked my flights to New Zealand for Christmas which gave me something extra to look forward to.<br />
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<b>September:</b><br />
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September was a good month for family catch ups! My boyfriend's Mum came to visit us from Adelaide, and she got to meet my Mum which was pretty cute. We went on a sunrise kayaking trip together and had lots of yummy brunch and coffee together.<br />
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Later in the month we also had a lovely family weekend back at home, with my sister home from uni and her boyfriend and his brother also joining us! We had an amazing roast dinner, campfire in the garden and still managed to squeeze in some study on the side so it was a pretty amazing weekend.<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWKPftqfIv_57yHUVfYOnZ4dem3-r0naznc8YFzzyZUHT-dEAHPeuL8NR0gQAo_NmIDwYYD0_ZAYBx3knU3geQy01Qi5B14eIIbgEVuKsYLCcGKL3xlIDNBJUaHeyMWijvWoIIdnPGHyVX/s1600/IMG_0318.JPG" /><br />
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<b>October:</b><br />
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Believe it or not, this is actually the only photo I took in October! I made banoffee pie for my boyfriend's birthday and we ate it while celebrating booking our flights to India.<br />
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I was very busy this month whilst on my Obstetrics and Gynaecology rotation, and I got to catch some babies during my birth suite week which was super exciting!<br />
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<b>November:</b><br />
The big time was here, November was the month of my final medical school exams! I spent most of my time studying at the kitchen table with my housemates, practicing OSCE cases and trying not to panic. The exams went fairly well but I was quite worried about the multiple choice paper that we had last, as it's impossible to know if you got the right answer or went completely wrong!<br />
Of course, we had a big party to celebrate finishing.<br />
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I was then super busy organising myself for overseas trips and moving out of our apartment, which required a whole lot of driving right in the middle of a massive heat wave!</div>
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In the middle of a day spent cleaning the old apartment I found out I had passed my exams and literally just sat on the floor and sobbed with relief. Medicine has been a hella tough ride for me and I just couldn't believe I'd actually done it! As the cherry on top, it turned out that I got a Distinction for this year which is way better than I've ever done before. It was so nice to have a bit of a confidence boost at the end of such a tough year!<br />
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<b>December:</b><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0LPBWJShChJPWG3rY8wyroBE64Zo0XfP5l5ojVnw9sjdryqNkz94BOyg0IEXF_8HQcX0CQq9aI8zx1ANak0MthQR_xk5OF6gDUCVC6nWAXtGFM8O7KIS3HswWygIcX_S_51sYPLzjcQDl/s1600/ACS_0001.JPG" />December came and went in a blur of travel, organising and placement!<br />
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We jetted off to New Zealand for Christmas with my grandparents and the rest of the family. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to relax because I was super busy organising my electives and completing a two week emergency department placement.<br />
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We rounded out the year with a tramp up the mountain and a lovely quiet Christmas day at home.<br />
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Whew, what a year! It's been both better and worse than I'd hoped in many ways, and I'm really looking forward to the new adventures that 2019 will bring me!<br />
What was your favourite moment of 2018?<br />
Kate x<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-39097216570363741202018-12-29T21:04:00.001-08:002018-12-29T21:04:35.117-08:00Monthly Moments | December<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_E-st33amYdMtiTTQ4UjPbAf9blagUVfclKIc1YOhc43P4PsIDyul12YGPQkl2cPD0LMyM1Not0bS1c3ZRIhQIVRDQmtj_NDBW02dgUlXuIY7rEpl4qzeMWjD0YCWpHc_HQE3KjdjuvAW/s1600/ACS_0004.JPG" />Hi guys!</div>
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Goodness, December has been a big one! This month has been a lot more hectic than I had expected it to be, but I've managed to fit in a whole heap of fun as well. Here's a little peek at what I've been up to for the final chapter of 2018.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFma02FD2iMqcTEbn-qtZkX0ySRfOo5uku7Dp3NN-Oc5a81_iR6SqVOxkzKqhDSqAK0Zu5rY8d5VRpL0ZZbi3T-SgtYEr_mr_MjZ_JjcarlCCqm2h2IskvFepASOJ0HAXl4qXuEoEWe-Or/s1600/DSC_0089.jpg" /><b>New Zealand</b><br />
In the first week of December my sister and I jetted off back to our homeland, the Land of the Long White Cloud! We've been staying with our Grandparents and were joined by our parents about a week after we got here, so it's been really wonderful to be all together again. It was also the first time my sister and I have flown together as just the two of us so that was quite cute. Unfortunately I spent a big chunk of my time when I first arrived organising paperwork for upcoming placements and my visa for India next year which has been quite the headache! We did fit in some exploring, walking and lots of good food as well though.<br />
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<b>ED Placement:</b><br />
As part of my study requirements for next year I have to complete two elective placements, one in the emergency department and one in an area of my choice. I organised to complete the ED section at the local hospital while I'm here, both because it was convenient but also because most of my family have worked or done nursing training in the same hospital, so it seemed only right to continue the tradition!<br />
I struggled a bit mentally with having to go back to placement not only so soon after finishing my massive final exams, but also missing out on precious family time while I'm back here in NZ, but there were definitely positive aspects to the experience as well. My placement required me to do 72 hours of work over a two week period, so I chose to pack it all into some really long days in order to get it out of the way. It was actually quite nice to have some structure and purpose in my days while in the middle of my holiday period, and a lot of the staff who used to work with my family got enjoyment out of meeting me. I also got to wear the same colour scrubs as the doctors do, which made me feel pretty special. Only one year to go until I'm wearing doctor scrubs for real! All in all, it was a fun and exciting experience but I'm happy to be properly on holiday now.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBsccx3MwCQPYYOYY-xWN1SsMlyYd-OfdYsmYpRWVoyXN1SO1rp6p8zGW17L1DV8JyP5AZazHPYrIcnuQeXvbbGQhlnCofEY66QQTCxJXO8uZZTt48KJYUnBfoB43B0XeNugZoZtSJVhU/s1600/IMG_5909.jpg" /><b>Tramping Trip</b><br />
After smashing out a solid six days in a row of 10-12 hour shifts in the ED, it was time to escape! My parents, sister and I strapped on our packs early the next morning and headed up Mount Taranaki on the track to Lake Dive Hut. I'll write a full feature on it sometime soon, but it was really lovely to explore a new hut on my familiar old mountain. It took us a bit less than four hours to get to the hut, and another very wet four hours in the rain to get back the next morning-Christmas Eve! Spending time with my favourite people in the great outdoors is just the best way I could imagine to celebrate this special time of year.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPLVIurat04qK6S5Wq53tLZ7ffYdamfmSZXlWSw0_VsmOhhsoAlehc5eXeVzz-OO2WIM-9wYJpnTB5jvqrHzsRi2bi6EjXuaelU29Z9_7t8YCpEUPdoXGlEcdzD6kSD5NFcvA1FLb6H2i/s1600/IMG_0306.jpg" /><br />
<b>Christmas</b><br />
To round out a year of hard work and busy days, we had a wonderful quiet family day to celebrate Christmas Day. I often struggle with keeping my expectations and anxiety in check when it comes to Christmas, and sometimes end up feeling a little deflated and sad when the day comes around, however this year I hadn't had a second to create any expectations with all the busy days of placement and tramping! I was more than happy to just have a simple day together and am just so grateful to be able to spend time with my special people back in my home town. I seem to spend less and less time with my family as the years go by, but I only value it more and more.<br />
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With that thought in mind, I'm off to put my feet up and have a glass of wine and roast dinner, and no doubt have an entertaining discussion about our butterfly hunting expedition tomorrow (#justfamilythings)<br />
What did you get up to in December? I hope your Christmas was as lovely and peaceful as you could have hoped!<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-10918170959612957682018-12-10T14:46:00.000-08:002018-12-10T14:46:59.013-08:00What's In My Carry-On?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi guys!<br />
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Let's be real, the process of traveling can be a stressful and tiresome experience at times. However, I'm a strong believer that a thoughtfully but minimally packed carry-on bag can make a huge difference to your comfort through any long haul flight and airport wait. For today's post I thought I'd take you through what I packed in my carry-on for my latest trip to New Zealand, that kept me both comfortable and stylish through a looong day of travel.<br />
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First things first, let's talk about the bag! I'm a fan of a backpack as my carry-on bag of choice, as I find any other handbags or wheelie cases way too much hassle. Mine is a black 'leather' backpack with gold zip detail from Kmart. What I really love about it is the nice small size, as it can *just* fit everything I need in it! As you might have guessed from my comments earlier, I absolutely hate having too much carry on luggage as it just seems to continually be getting in my way and weighing me down, particularly when getting on or off planes or wanting to wander the shops in the airport terminal. At some point I will likely invest in a backpack that is ever so slightly bigger (perhaps a Fjallraven Kanken?), but for now this one does the trick.<br />
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So what's in the bag?<br />
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<b>Laptop:</b> I actually never seem to use my laptop as much as I would have thought whilst traveling, but it's still an essential to have with me. I often try to catch up on some study or emails in spare moments at the airport, if I can be bothered!<br />
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<b>Scrunchie: </b>Every time I attempt a nice hairstyle with my hair out, I last about an hour before getting frustrated with it getting in my eyes! I always keep spare hair ties with me for this reason.<br />
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<b>Headphones:</b> A fairly self explanatory inclusion! I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks whilst traveling so these are an absolute essential. My fave podcasts at the moment are At Home With by Anna Newton and Lily Pebbles, and Happy Place by Fearne Cotton (the episode with Dawn French was fab!).<br />
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<b>Jumper:</b> I'm sure you will all be very aware of how cold it can get when you're stuck in air-conditioned buildings all day, and I always end up freezing at some point while traveling. I find the best way to travel with a big jumper like this is to roll it up in the bottom of my backpack, so it doesn't get in the way of all the other bits that I need to access more easily.<br />
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<b>Passport Wallet:</b> I've had this little brown and gold wallet for quite a few years now, and although on the bigger side to fit in my backpack, it's worth the space it takes up! I keep both my passports in here along with any tickets or printouts, as well as a spare pen. It even has a zip up pocket which I use to store spare coins from home whilst I'm traveling, which is super useful!<br />
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<b>Kindle: </b>I'm sure everyone and their mum has sung the praises of this little device by now, but for an avid reader who has vivid memories of traveling with a huge copy of Eragon in my pack in the past- this is an absolute lifesaver! I don't tend to use my kindle much when I'm not traveling, but I have so many free books that I stockpile on there thanks to my Bookbub subscription so I always have plenty to choose from.<br />
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<b>Pen:</b> You'll almost always end up filling in some type of form or needing to write something down during a day of travel, so it's much more useful to have your own rather than using the ones provided or having to borrow one.<br />
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<b>Wallet:</b> I like to travel with just a small coin purse as I generally don't need all my usual loyalty cards that require a big wallet whilst traveling overseas. It saves a lot of space whilst still fitting everything you need.<br />
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<b>Lip Balm & Hand Cream:</b> What is it about air travel that just seems to suck all the moisture out of you?! These are so important to have with me. My lip balm of choice is the Burts Bees vanilla, and my hand cream is an all time favourite, L'Occitane Lavender.<br />
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<b>Mints:</b> I'll take anything that might help me feel a bit more fresh and awake!<br />
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<b>Metal Straw:</b> I'll admit bringing my own straw is of course to do with wanting to help the environment, however it's also due to my hatred for the paper straws that many cafes are giving as replacements lately. I find that the paper ones break down before I've even had half my drink and it is so unpleasant! So bringing my own is a great improvement on that. As this was my first time travelling with my own metal straw, I did wonder if they would pull me up at security but it was fine!<br />
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Not pictured but important additions are my charging cables and battery pack, which itself was charging whilst I took these photos.<br />
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Do you take more or less than this in your carry on? What are your absolute essentials to have with you whilst traveling?<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-59352783541541672732018-11-30T03:38:00.001-08:002018-11-30T03:42:05.125-08:00Onwards and Upwards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm back with some very exciting news... I passed my final medical school exams!<br />
If I'm honest I can't quite believe it's all over. It's been a long, hard five years and I don't think I ever believed that I could actually do it, but here I am. I now have only one year of placement to go until I'm officially Dr Reid, how crazy!<br />
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<a name='more'></a>It's been a week and a half since we finished exams, and somewhat contrary to what I might have hoped, I've actually been super busy ever since! The end of the year means moving out of our apartment as our lease comes to an end, and getting everything moved and cleaned has been quite a task. To make an already somewhat unpleasant job a lot worse, we're in the middle of a record breaking heatwave-it was 44 degrees celsius on the day our removalist came to move my furniture! It's been physically impossible to stay cool and I've felt like a sweaty mess for the most part of the last week. However, the worst of both the hot weather and the moving is over now, so I can start to look forward to other things.<br />
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After neglecting all of my life responsibilities for a couple of weeks while studying for exams, I've also had lots of organisation and admin things to catch up on over the last few days. I travel to India at the end of January for 8 weeks which has meant a whole lot of travel vaccines and forms to submit to the university.<br />
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What with all this going on, I haven't really stopped to think just yet! Luckily there's only a couple more days until I can properly relax, and I'll soon be off to New Zealand to spend Christmas with my family.<br />
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I hope you guys are excited for lots of Christmas and travel related content coming very soon, because I sure am! This evening I've pulled out my Christmas tree and candles and am feeling well and truly in the festive spirit!<br />
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Here's to a very relaxing and magical December for us all!<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-42210247803110148572018-10-31T01:02:00.000-07:002018-11-11T14:10:38.665-08:00My Exam Prep Essentials & Mini Haul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><b>AKA a list of things that aren't at all essential but make me feel a little bit better about spending my whole day at a desk with my hands covered in whiteboard marker stains!</b></i><br />
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<a name='more'></a><i>Notebook- Kmart, $5. Highlighters- Daiso, $3. Twinings Infuse (3 Pack)- Coles, $2. Socks- Dotti, $8.</i><br />
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Hi guys!<br />
I'm currently less than three weeks away from my last ever medical school exams, and I'm simultaneously terrified and super excited at the prospect of finally being done! I've been living in a state of perpetual stress for months now, so I'm genuinely very glad to be at this 'final push' stage so it can just be over with.<br />
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Considering my brain isn't really capable of thinking about much other than study at the moment, I thought I'd feature a few of my favourite items that help me to survive these stressful times for my blog post this week. So without further ado, let's get into it!<br />
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<b>Snacks & Drinks</b><br />
Where would a gal be without her snacks?!<br />
I generally try even harder than usual to be quite healthy and strict around diet & exercise during the weeks leading up to exams; simply because it is the best way for me to maintain my mental health at such a challenging time. With that in mind, I tend to do a big grocery shop at the start of my study time, and stock up on heaps of fresh fruit and veges, hummus, yoghurt and other easy snacks. Your brain needs fuel, after all! I always know that there will be a point during my study at which I give up and consume a whole block of chocolate in an afternoon, but the goal is to put it off as long as possible and keep myself satisfied with other snacks in the meantime!<br />
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Invariably you're going to be consuming a fair amount of caffeine at this point in time(unless you're superwoman, for which I salute you!), which can lead to you getting super dehydrated, headache-y and not studying to your optimum potential. I keep a water bottle next to me all the time while studying and try to make sure I'm drinking plenty. However, sometimes plain old water can get a bit boring, and I've recently discovered these Twinings sachets that you can put in a water bottle to turn it into iced tea! They're really tasty, this rose lemonade one is definitely my fave but I've also tried watermelon and blackcurrant which are also really nice.<br />
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<b>Clothing</b><br />
I know it's silly, but I genuinely study much more efficiently when I feel both comfortable and cute in what I'm wearing. I got this super cute cropped green jumper on Depop recently and I just looove it! It's perfectly snuggly for a day of study whilst still feeling cute! I would definitely recommend acquiring a similar jumper for your own study days.<br />
My two other essentials for staying comfy are socks and hair scrunchies. My feet are always freezing after sitting at my desk for anything more than half an hour, so socks are a must-have! I also cannot study with my hair anywhere near my face, so I try to offset some of the damage of it being tied up 24/7 by using hair scrunchies rather than harsher hair ties.<br />
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<b>Playlists</b><br />
Music is essential to getting me through the long hours at my desk, but I've found that certain types are better than others for getting you in the study mood. I used to listen to very upbeat pop playlists in the hopes that they would give me the energy to keep going, but I often found that they actually made me quite restless. I've found it better to listen to a more mellow playlist that will help you to stay settled and focussed while getting some work done. The best things I've found for this are Youtube mixes in the lofi hip hop/ jazz/ chill genre. I usually don't like jazz or hip hop that much but I really like it in this format! The best channels I've found for these are called<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n-p77dKBUU&index=83&list=PLzOJLReZcVnY0QCIWpR9xGfefDXKW0ThC&t=0s" target="_blank"> Dreamy,</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaUMT0-cYvw&index=70&list=PLzOJLReZcVnY0QCIWpR9xGfefDXKW0ThC&t=0s" target="_blank">Feardog</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC24rvm5Awk&index=84&list=PLzOJLReZcVnY0QCIWpR9xGfefDXKW0ThC" target="_blank">The Jazz Hop Cafe,</a> although there's many more out there that are suggested once you've listened to one!<br />
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Another good source of comforting music for study is movie soundtracks- I've currently been loving the Hobbit soundtrack as it both inspires and calms me.<br />
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<i>Corduroy Scrunchies (3 Pack)- Kmart, $5. Notebooks - Kmart, $5. Bath bombs- Lush.</i><br />
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<b>Treat Yo Self</b><br />
In my world, study season is bath season! I like to make sure I have a good stash of Lush bath bombs so that I can have a good method of relaxation when my brain has taken all it can handle for the day. It's important to have nice things to look forward to at this time of year!<br />
I'm also an advocate of having some nice stationery that you enjoy using when it comes to study. I've had my pastel highlighters for quite a while; they were about $3 from Daiso and I literally haven't used a normal highlighter since buying them as I love these so much!<br />
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That brings us to the end of my study 'essentials'. Good luck to anyone else who also has exams coming up. See you on the other side! (oh, and Happy Halloween! I hope you all have WAY more fun tonight than I will be!)<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-82903090202244200592018-09-29T21:02:00.000-07:002018-09-29T21:02:01.205-07:0032/40 | A Goodreads Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi guys!<br />
Considering I'm now well over halfway through my reading goal for the year, I thought it was about time I updated you on what I've been reading and loving over the last few months.<br />
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I went through quite a lull in terms of reading earlier in the year, I was finding that I read plenty of books that I quite liked, but none really gave me that invigorating I LOVED THIS book feeling, which was a bit sad! However, I recently finished Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and it has completely made up for all the passable books I'd read previously in the year. Before we get to that, let's get into all the books I've loved most this year...<br />
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<b><i>The Muse- Jessie Burton</i></b><br />
It's actually a bit strange that when I looked back over the books I've read this year, I remembered that I loved this book, but I honestly don't remember why and it hasn't really stuck with me. I have a vague feeling that I was a bit dissatisfied with the ending, so perhaps that contributes to my semi-indifference towards it. However, I do remember that the story was very well written and the character development kept you hooked right until the end, so I'd definitely still recommend it.<br />
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<b><i>The Tides of Avarice- John Dahlgren</i></b><br />
This one is a bit of a niche book that most people wouldn't really like, but I enjoyed it so much. It reminded me a lot of the Redwall series, which I have absolutely adored since I was a child. The main characters are lemmings with the main antagonist being a fox (hence why I say it's a fairly niche book!) and the story follows the lemmings adventures when they get caught up in an adventure on the high seas after pirates invade their small town. It might not be for everyone, but if you loved Redwall like I did, this is definitely a book I'd recommend.<br />
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<b><i>The Atomic Weight of Love- Elizabeth J Church</i></b><br />
I wrote a full review of this one a few months ago, so I won't repeat myself too much here. This book followed the story of a young woman living in America in the 1940's, and follows her attempts to maintain a career in science whilst also fulfilling the societal expectations of how women should be living their life. I loved the feminism and historical aspects of this book and found it a really refreshing read!<br />
If you'd like to see my full review <a href="https://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2018/04/book-review-atomic-weight-of-love.html" target="_blank">you can find it here.</a><br />
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<b><i>The Trees- Ali Shaw</i></b><br />
This is one of the stand-out books so far this year. The story was very unique and the characters were exceedingly well written. I had some dissatisfaction with the last few chapters of the book and the direction they went in, however overall the book was really worth the read. What would you do if civilisation as you know it was destroyed overnight by a forest of trees bursting through the ground?<br />
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<b><i>This Is Going To Hurt- Adam Kay </i></b><br />
This book was definitely my favourite this year before I picked up Eleanor Oliphant, and it was really excellent. I actually listened to the audiobook of this one, which is fairly unusual for me. I usually find listening to an audiobook second best to reading the book for myself, however I tend to make an exception for audiobooks that are narrated by the author like this one. This got me through so many long drives genuinely laughing out loud, but of course also shows the very serious side of practicing medicine. From my experiences as a med student I could relate to so many of the stories Adam told, but I also think this book would be very entertaining for a non-medical audience and would thoroughly recommend it.<br />
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<b><i>Big Magic- Elizabeth Gilbert</i></b><br />
I don't often read books in the 'self help' type genre, however this one had me hooked! I've always fostered dreams of writing a book some day, and this one reminded me of that dream and the importance of embracing creativity. Big Magic holds concepts that can be relevant to many aspects of life, and even if you're not a creator or particularly artistic I still think it holds value for many readers.<br />
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<b><i>Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine- Gail Honeyman</i></b><br />
Oh, words just cannot express my love for this book! I'll insert an excerpt from my Goodreads review, as it basically encapsulates my adoration for every aspect of the book. I honestly just thought it was perfect, and that's all I really need to say!<br />
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<tr><td colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><i><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />"All I can say is that this book is an absolute MASTERPIECE. I’ll be honest and say that it took me a little bit to get into at the beginning, but boy, once I did! I was completely captured by this story, and haven’t felt so connected to characters for such a long time. I have so much love for Eleanor, Raymond, his mum, Sammy and the rest. This book was perfectly written, with exactly the right balance of humour and pain, and truly restored my faith in humanity. I really admired the pacing of the book as well; it would have been so easy to rush the storyline but every moment felt realistic and just right."</i></span></td></tr>
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And on that positive note, I'll leave my update there. I have a huge pile of books patiently waiting to be read, including the second Game Of Thrones, most of Phillipa Gregory's Tudor series and several thrift store purchases! Unfortunately I'm coming in to the end of the year that doesn't leave me much time to read whilst studying for exams, but luckily I know I'll have plenty of time over the summer holidays to finish off my goal.<br />
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If you'd like to share a recommendation or keep up with what I'm reading, you can follow me on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63415908-kate-reid" target="_blank">Goodreads here.</a><br />
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I hope you've found some inspiration for what to read next in this post. Happy reading!<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-71851599768943628582018-09-08T16:29:00.001-07:002018-09-08T16:29:29.232-07:00Exploring Tongariro National Park | New Zealand Adventures<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuvujck73dRR43OCBW6nUZWbJUsM10qDjLY-BW7E1PU9_QoVrbrLGp25GDeIaruuKIwqGWjKIsjZPdPE0rJAwv_cyvvjtBe7h6cmLFsSWXkn4GKA3grBlewtip7rC4peCuJ5hVA2e0OkC/s1600/IMG_0457.jpeg" /><br />
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Hi guys!<br />
Today's post is a very, very overdue feature on my trip to Tongariro National Park in the North Island of New Zealand. Tongariro is a place that always has a special place in my heart, as my family have been there many times over the years and always have the most wonderful time. Tongariro is also home to several Lord Of The Rings filming locations, which is another exciting aspect to explore! This trip was extra special as I got to introduce my boyfriend to the national park and all it's beauty for the first time.<br />
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To reach Tongariro we took the Northern Explorer train from Auckland to National Park, which I've wanted to do for years! Unfortunately in classic NZ style it was quite rainy on the day we did it, so the views weren't as great as we'd hoped. Nevertheless it was a really fun experience, particularly being able to go out in the open air carriage!<br />
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My Grandparents met us off the train and we drove to Whakapapa village where we stayed for three lovely days. Our original plan was to camp out in the tent that my Grandparents had brought along; however about half an hour after we pitched it, the heavens opened and it poured with rain. We soon discovered that the tent wasn't quite as waterproof as it might once have been, so we ended up staying in the spare bunks in my Grandparent's cabin, which actually worked out really nicely in the end! </div>
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On our first morning we woke up super early to wander up the road and see if the mountain was peeking out from behind the clouds. We got lucky!</div>
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After a hearty breakfast of porridge and coffee made in the camp kitchen, we took a drive up to the skifield to take a look around. We managed to get there just as the clouds were closing in! The large rocky formation in the photo is known as Mead's Wall and was used in several scenes of Lord Of The Rings filming.<br />
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Later that afternoon we laced up our boots and did the Silica Rapids hike, a pretty easy and scenic hike that takes about 2 hours.<br />
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Day Two was the day for our bigger hike; we made the trek to the gorgeous Tama Lakes. I've done this hike in the past with my family, and unfortunately there was a lot more people on the track this time, meaning it wasn't as peaceful as my previous experience. However, nothing can detract from the beauty of the lakes themselves! </div>
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The hike was a true four-seasons-in-one-day experience, I had to keep swapping from my beanie to my sunhat and back again throughout the day! On our return to the camp site, the mountain was making one of the best appearances that we saw for the trip, so we took the time to relax in front of the Chateau and snap some pictures before heading to the cafe for a well deserved ice-cream!<br />
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During the evening we went out for dinner together and all went for cocktails at the Chateau afterwards. It was a lovely end to a lovely day!<br />
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On our final day, there was time for one last tiny hike to the beautiful Tawhai Falls; otherwise known as Gollum's Pool. You may recognise it from the scene where Gollum goes fishing at the Forbidden Pool; although it looks rather different to the movie in real life (much brighter!)<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0e6mNyTZdHeQqnGM7K-WaXtGXtVkRG71vWe_Ki4C4xDatstquzmrLsP1YqAsKdvIAy3yMAPvQZm0CH-lPnGapRnrIJhLpphgQvydCOuD3qIt3W8theQowx_Q74L90vOVW5xt2z5VH4h-/s1600/IMG_0459-1.jpeg" title="Tawhai Falls Gollum's Pool" /><br />
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With a heavy heart it was then time to continue our journey to New Plymouth, sneaking final glances at the beautiful mountains out the car window as we drove away. Tongariro is a place that I will always return to for it's serenity and simplicity. If it's not on your list of places to visit yet, it definitely should be!<br />
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If you'd like to see what we got up to next on our New Zealand trip, see my post about the gorgeous <a href="https://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2018/01/hiking-pouakai-crossing-new-zealand.html" target="_blank">Pouakai Crossing Hike here.</a><br />
Have you been on any adventures recently? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!<br />
Kate x</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-41363230935705875632018-08-31T04:39:00.000-07:002018-08-31T04:40:13.669-07:005 Things I've Achieved So Far This Year<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6jWZ01T2cUE6-b4S3hKfp2hFHix5STZ1pZEcZ8fbwSsvnXw50q4Qf5IWo9eVnrcks62Zyfw-ofQXRXtkmhXcJLQf4K-z1bPnbMnTLSRuIuWLVaKSLdeKxzkEk5IZZg-MOhKItEgWk_fJr/s1600/IMG_4077.jpg" /><br />
Hi guys!<br />
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Much to my consistent surprise, this year just seems to keep flying on by and we are now well over the halfway mark of 2018!<br />
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2018 has been by far the hardest of my degree so far, and I've been dealing with a lot of frustration over not feeling like I know enough or am making enough progress, with a good dose of imposter syndrome thrown in as well. I think a lot of us sometimes focus so much on where we want to be and what we haven't achieved, that we forget to press pause for a second and take some time to realise what we actually have achieved.<br />
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In an attempt to remind myself to do just that, I've put together a list of 5 things that I've achieved already this year that I'm quite proud of.<br />
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<b>Banishing My Phone Call Fear</b><br />
I will admit that this is a continual work in progress and I still get palpitations when thinking about the possibility of having to make a phone call. However, I think an important distinction to make is that this fear no longer disables me. This is mostly due to me having no choice in the matter (when you're on a rural placement and the doctor asks you to ring and book an urgent CT for a patient with a head injury, you don't have time to find excuses!) but also down to my active efforts to stop avoiding things I'm scared of. Exposure therapy totally works, and the more times you can do something and have it turn out ok, the more you'll be able to decrease that ingrained fear response of sweaty shaky hands!<br />
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<b>Blogging More Consistently</b><br />
Unfortunately the nature of my degree means that my blog can simply never be my highest priority, except when I have an occasional holiday and attempt to speed-write 50 posts ahead of time! However, I've managed to post at least 2 times every month this year, and although that probably doesn't sound like much at all to anyone else, I'm quite proud that I've managed to stay relatively consistent without any big gaps like those in previous years. That said, I'm just heading into the most crazy part of my year now, so I make no promises that you'll hear from me again until my exams are done in November...<br />
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<b>Joined A Gym </b><br />
This is another big palpitation-inducing fear that I've managed to knock on the head this year! I had a bit of a bad experience when I tried to sign up for a free trial at my boyfriend's gym last year, as it was a really male dominated space and I felt super intimidated and uncomfortable there. Ever since I've sworn that the gym life is just not for me, but that changed when my friend won a gym subscription for 6 months that she wasn't able to use. She gave it to me, and I had no excuse whatsoever to not go when I was getting it free for 6 months! I'm quite proud that I've managed to conquer my fears in this area so well, being really brave and trying lots of new classes all by myself! A good friend has since joined the same gym and we're often able to go together which is lovely. My free 6 months has run out and I've now purchased my own membership so I'm fully committed now! I really hope that this endeavour continues to go from strength to strength (literally, haha!)<br />
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<b>Kept On Track With My Goodreads Goal</b><br />
Despite my busy-ness, I've been trying hard to make time for reading lately. I set myself a smaller goal of 40 rather than 50 books for this year, as I knew aiming for 50 again just wouldn't be manageable with my uni workload over the next few months. This is a good example of how sensible goal setting can really help- the key is to formulate a goal that is high enough to push yourself, but not so high that you feel discouraged and hopeless. I'm currently 4 books ahead of schedule for achieving my goal, and I have been at least one or two books ahead for most of the year. It's nice to feel like I'm making real progress with something!<br />
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<b>Travelled Across The Country Twice On My Own</b><br />
Despite the multitude of trips I've been on previously with my family and boyfriend, this year has been the first time I've travelled alone within the country and navigated new places! I was pretty proud of how I handled myself when I travelled to Sydney recently and managed to navigate the train systems with no hassles at all...until they knocked out the signalling system on the day I was supposed to fly out and I sat on the tracks in a train that wasn't moving for about an hour and a half, but that's a story for another day! I was still impressed with how calm I stayed in that stressful situation where I was pretty much powerless, and through being assertive I was able to make my plane in time, thank goodness!<br />
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So, there's just a few things that I've achieved this year. I hope this reminds you to stop and give yourself a pat on the back for what you've achieved so far this year as well!<br />
I'd love to know what you've achieved this year in the comments!<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-84201026243958692672018-08-11T16:12:00.002-07:002018-08-11T16:12:51.241-07:00August Goals<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBmjeC6LcyrkM_b4m-gQs7wQVnXQsGBHgRvLWJ_7kJbSLu-QA49xAiE1Snd0u6kRChpJdIDw35HnuZbCmOwiNoRD7fTGzdabKUeiFKIBT6kFGf5s6388nS9UcUUlFAAF1ZOA3pYbQJ_lBl/s1600/IMG_4067.jpg" /><br />
Hi guys!<br />
I know we're already 10 days into August, but I'm feeling pretty refreshed and motivated after my two weeks of holiday, so I thought I'd share a few of my goals for the next few weeks. I've struggled a lot this year with setting my goals a bit too high and feeling deflated when I never reach them, so this month I'm trying really hard to start smaller and slowly build up some productive habits in my life.<br />
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<b>Study:</b><br />
<b><i>One Hour Of Study Per Day-</i></b> I spend the majority of my days at placement, so it can be hard to fit in the time and find the energy to study whenever I get home. I've found through trial and error that doing one solid hour of study can be infinitely more useful than trying to study and procrastinating away my time for 6 hours. Setting myself the goal of one hour of study seems to hit that sweet spot where it feels manageable enough that I can sit down and smash it out without getting too distracted or overwhelmed. As exams draw closer, I hope to increase this to two hour-long sessions through the day, but for now I'm just focussing on forming that habit of one hour a day.<br />
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<b><i>Good Habits</i></b>- This is my theme for the whole month throughout all my goals really! I'm currently almost finished reading The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, and although I'm not sure I'll be taking up all the recommendations right now, the book has definitely reminded me of the importance of having daily habits that will help you to achieve your goals.<br />
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<b>Health:</b><br />
<b><i>3 x Exercise Sessions Per Week-</i></b> I know 3 sessions might not sound like that much, but I'm the absolute queen of setting my goals and then doing nothing because I feel totally overwhelmed. This month is all about trying to get some consistency in achieving my goals, and once I have that down I can increase the amount of sessions I aim for. I went to my first 6AM gym class this week and really enjoyed, it made me feel super energised and happy for the day afterwards, so I'm definitely planning on trying to do more early exercise sessions over the next few weeks!<br />
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<b><i>Stress Less-</i></b> I mentioned in my last post that I've been struggling a bit more than usual with stress over the last little while, and with just 3 months to go until my final med school exams, it seems a pretty important time to get on top of my stress management strategies. I'm an organisation fanatic, so that always helps to control my stress levels, but I always need to remind myself to take the step from planning my study to actually doing it! Breaking my tasks down into chunks until they feel manageable and sticking to a routine really helps me to be at my most productive. Exercise also really helps keep the panic at bay, so I'm hoping to prioritise those 3 exercise sessions I mentioned above.<br />
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<b>Life:</b><br />
<b><i>Save More Money-</i></b> I've got so many things coming up to save for! At the start of next year I'll be going to both India and New Zealand for my elective placements, and I would absolutely love to have a decent camera to take with me for those trips. I also obviously want to save for the trips themselves, so I've set myself a target that I'm hoping to meet before I head overseas. <br />
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<b><i>Stay Positive-</i></b> As I've just mentioned, I have so many good things to look forward to in my life! The next three months will be tough, but after that I'll officially be a final year med student and be off travelling and exploring new places for most of the next year. It's very easy to develop tunnel vision and feel like my entire life is just study and difficulty, but the good times are coming and it's important to stay hopeful and keep myself working towards that!<br />
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So, those are my main goals for August. Do you have any similar goals? What helpful habits are you trying to develop?<br />
Sending all the positive goal-kicking vibes to you all!<br />
Kate x<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-81544457211460361272018-08-06T18:08:00.001-07:002018-08-06T18:08:32.744-07:00Monthly Moments | July<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLoKK_edYlBg8XuxeCvSCxMZiuEMXpt1jQL-7E-W0FoJlAHojG6b6HBeIeej7n9gO5NlDtg90iW1Hqj83JDrtXuuAB6tsDMKX89E6_gdQVaOtdaiBW-YhRs4RGFkQV0KVqXUDU1cTiLk0E/s1600/IMG_3920.jpeg" />Hi guys!<br />
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Just like that yet another month has come and gone, and I'm left at a loss where all my time is disappearing to! When looking back on the month of July, I initially didn't think that I had been up to much except studying, but after a look at my photos it seems that I have been pretty busy after all. There's been reunions with old friends and a trip to the other end of the county, among other things, so here's a little glimpse of what I've been up to during the last month.<br />
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<b>Fun Run</b><br />
Early in the month I organised for our uni rural health club to attend a fun run in honour of NAIDOC week, the national week for recognition of Indigenous people's culture and history. It was a lovely sunny morning and we had a lot of fun joining the run. A friend of mine brought along her doggie to run with us which was probably the highlight for me! After the run there was a free sausage sizzle and some traditional dancing performances, which was really nice to see. All around it was a really fun morning, and it proved to be quite a good cultural experience for the med student from overseas that I convinced to join us!<br />
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<b>OSCE</b><br />
I won't lie, I honestly spent at least 70% of the last month stressing WAY too much about a small two-station OSCE exam I had coming up at the end of my rotation. I've genuinely never really felt so stressed, especially about a small piece of assessment that's only worth 3% of my grades for the year. In the end they threw a random case at us that we hadn't even prepared for, but I managed to pass both of my stations and was so incredibly relieved to have it over with!<br />
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<b>Reunited!</b><br />
In the middle of all my pre-OSCE stress, one of my long lost friends from America came back to visit us! He spent a semester with us in our first year of uni, and we've kept in fairly good contact since. Sadly we only got to catch up for a very short period as he was over in Aussie working and couldn't get any free time, but it was still lovely to see his face and get a proper hug after all these years! I'm often saddened that most of my best friends live across the country or on the other side of the world from me, but it makes it that much sweeter when you work to keep the friendship going and finally get to catch up!<br />
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<b>Newcastle</b><br />
After all the exams and stress were over with, I finally got a well deserved break! I had two weeks off and (speaking of friends living across the country!) spent half of it down in Newcastle visiting my bestie who got a job down there this year. We did lots of exploring, had a Christmas in July party, watched Mammia Mia 2 and I got to meet her boyfriend's two adorable border collies and get lots of doggie cuddles! It was the best catch up we've had in years, and it was so nice to see where she's living and be able to picture all the places and people she talks about. The time went way too quickly of course, but I left with lots of lovely memories to keep me going until we next see each other.<br />
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So, that's what I got up to during July! It was super nice to be reunited with some of my favourite people and get some time to relax! I'm now in my first week back to Uni with lectures from 8-5 each day, so that's been a bit of a shock to the system. I'm feeling both refreshed, motivated and somewhat terrified about taking on the next few months, so fingers crossed that I can keep the balance going.<br />
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What did you get up to in July? Here's to a productive and happy August for all of us!<br />
Kate x<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-81632072512484156422018-07-30T03:26:00.000-07:002018-09-08T16:41:29.519-07:00My Top 10 Thrifting Tips<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9u9vogIjkN4qSqqKeAo3xWck44s16JpsfLcuNznmKPjw3ozdD0DwLRbS2pIoKwAnmfqlhua5cg6SrSmN3I579fwibfsVi2pjGXBQKfwZ2rftl1EmpXuXmc-EZ3rMz_qoaeIxfWJnDVddB/s1600/Thrift+tips+2.png" />Hi guys! If there's one thing I feel like I'm pretty good at in life, it's thrift shopping. I have a mix of really good luck and a whole lotta dedication that means I almost never leave a thrift shop empty handed.</div>
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<a name='more'></a>It sounds kinda funny to say it, but I'd genuinely call thrift shopping an actual hobby of mine, I find it so relaxing! It's much more about the thrill of what I could find on the next rack, even when I leave without buying anything the experience is still fun.<br />
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I've been thrifting for years now; I used to go with my Mum back in high school and haven't stopped since. Over the years I've picked up a fair few hints and tricks as to how to get the best out of your thrift trips, so sit back, grab a snack and I'll take you through how I do it!<br />
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<b>1.Have a snack and/or coffee first. </b><br />
Speaking of snacks... You'll soon see from these tips that thrifting is serious business, and you need to go into it with the maximum amount of energy and patience you could possibly have.<br />
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<b>2. Pick your stores.</b><br />
All thrift stores were not created equal. I find that I have much less luck in thrift stores in the middle of town, they're generally a lot smaller and have been more picked over. The best thrift stores in my area are more on the outskirts of town. I've heard that thrifting in better 'higher class' suburbs can also be a good strategy; this doesn't really apply to me as my town is fairly small, and in general I have found that thrift stores in those areas are more expensive, so I'd investigate for yourself whether that piece of advice is true in your area.<br />
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<b>3. Look at EVERYTHING.</b><br />
I'm serious about this. I always go through every single item on every rack. This is where the coffee comes in; sometimes you will go through several racks without finding anything, and you will need that energy and patience to keep looking!<br />
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<b>4. Try EVERYTHING!</b><br />
If it's even a vague possibility it could look cool, pick it up and try it on. I seriously get a full-on workout from my thrift trips as I end up carrying around an armful of clothing, and I usually have at least two or three trying on sessions as I can't carry anything more! You'd be surprised at what things look really cool once you try them on, so it's always worth testing them out. This can take up a lot of time so I make very snappy decisions when I'm trying, pulling things off straight away if they look weird in any way. This is also a crucial time to actively look for any stains or holes in the item; it's such a bummer if you only notice them when you get home, and unless you go looking for them, sometimes they're quite hard to spot!<br />
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<b>5. Go alone.</b><br />
As fun as it is to shop with friends, I'd advise you to go alone. But by all means go with friends if that's how you thrift most successfully! Basically just work out what works best for you....I tend to like going on my own so I can take as long as I want to!<br />
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<b>6. Ignore sizing.</b><br />
I check all the racks, even the ones that technically are way too big. Firstly, people often just chuck things back on the racks after trying them, so you could find things in your size on completely the wrong rack. Also, sometimes having things oversized or even from the mens section can often look really cool, so don't leave any rack unexplored.<br />
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<b>7. Be adventurous and open minded!</b><br />
Thrifting is such a good opportunity to try new colours and styles that you haven't before.<br />
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<b>8. Give yourself plenty of time.</b><br />
I think this one will be pretty obvious after how much I've talked about looking at every rack and trying everything on! I will usually spend at least an hour in one thrift store, and I know that if I have anything less than half an hour it's just not worth even going as I can't get into the right mindset and look at everything in that time. So make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to really enjoy the experience!<br />
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<b>9. Don't tell yourself that you're going to DIY something.</b><br />
...Unless you're a wonderful seamstress or you've done it before, of course! I've picked up a few things over the years that I thought I could alter to fit me or suit my style better, but this invariably ends up in me either never getting around to doing it, or attempting to 'fix' something and ending up completely ruining the piece, both of which situations end up in not wearing it and money being wasted. The only thing I'll let myself attempt now is cutting off pants or jeans to make into shorts; anything more complicated than that is guaranteed to be a disaster!<br />
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<b>10. Take some hand sanitiser.</b><br />
There's no denying that your hands can feel a bit grubby after going through all those racks, so it's nice to be able to freshen up. Plus, if you're like me and want to make a morning or even a day of thrifting, you'll probably want to stop for a snack at some point, so it's vital to be able to clean your hands!<br />
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I hope you guys find these tips useful! I'd be beyond excited to hear about what you find on your thrift trips, so please let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram!<br />
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If you'd like to see what I found on my most recent trips, feel free to check out these posts:<br />
<a href="http://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2017/12/december-christmas-thrift-finds.html" target="_blank">December & Christmas Thrift Finds</a><br />
<a href="http://katey-adventures.blogspot.com/2018/06/everything-2-thrift-haul.html" target="_blank">Lifeline $2 Sale Haul</a><br />
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Happy Thrifting!<br />
Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8236340874580582388.post-45054331980062349252018-07-23T17:20:00.000-07:002018-07-31T15:25:40.755-07:00How I Maximize My Weekends<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0d-qDaEtAnVfqfz7ij9-UDscqBRiVSTQzlFy1ZIkKukMzxble_Zxl83Xwk7gNLFBvq7KHk8rFU6k7e55axoZ2n9jc291AYJo63MqvLxpOrfQQRL-GLlLGt2rYdgI_fVCu4Wnoy5BjPe8/s1600/blog.jpg" />Hi guys!<br />
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Recently, I've come to the realisation that I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with weekends. How could one hate weekends, I hear you ask?! I think it has a lot to do with the fact that as a uni student, I'm at placement without much free time throughout most of the week. Although I do enjoy the long days and practical experience that comes with it, it does have the less positive side effect that I always have a big list of study and work to catch up on by the time Saturday rolls around.<br />
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I'd have to say that one of my least favourite feelings is that sinking sensation on a Sunday evening, when seemingly 5 minutes ago you had a whole weekend stretching before you, then before you know it you've blinked and you haven't done anything you wanted to do with your weekend. I really hate the feeling of going into a new week stressed and under-prepared because I haven't done enough over the weekend, and unfortunately this has been happening to me quite a lot recently, so I've been trying hard to combat it with a few different ideas. For today I thought I'd share the best strategies I've been using to be able to rest and recharge as well as being productive over my weekend!<br />
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<b>1. Make A Weekend Plan On Friday</b><br />
As soon as I get some free time on a Friday, I like to sit down and brain-dump a whole list of things that I want to achieve over the weekend. If I get that done on Friday, by the time I wake up on Saturday morning I already have an idea in mind of what I want to get done and what my priorities are.<br />
If possible,I try to tick off some little chores on Friday evening, such as doing a bit of cleaning or getting some groceries in. It takes such a weight off if you already have a few things done before the weekend has even started!<br />
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<b>2. Make Time To Relax</b><br />
I have a ritual that whenever possible, I will stay in bed on a Saturday morning and read a book. I'm not much of a sleep in type, but I do like to stay in bed for a little longer when I can to signify that I'm letting my body and mind have a rest. It's also nice to have an extra hour to snuggle with my partner, being able to relax together on our Saturday morning always feels like we've started the weekend off in the right way!<br />
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<b>3. Discipline.</b><br />
In my mind, the key to a relaxing, productive weekend is discipline.<i> I know</i> you've been good all week and <i>I know</i> you just want to finally let go (trust me, I feel it too!), but in reality the more disciplined you can be in getting things done during the weekend, the more time you'll have to simply relax without the mental burden of having more things left to do.<br />
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<b>4. Do Something Active.</b><br />
I always try to fit in a hike with my partner or a yoga class over the weekend, both to make sure I leave the house and to refresh my mind after a tough week. If you can fit in some exercise with a friend it's even better, as you can get some social interaction out of it as well!<br />
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So, these are the main strategies I've been using to try to get more work and more relaxation out of my weekends! Have you tried any of these, or do you have any other tips to share with me? I'd love to hear them in the comments!<br />
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Kate xKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138843794865934839noreply@blogger.com0