A new chapter

It's crazy how life throws little milestones out at you to remind you of where you have been. I'm getting ready to move this week up to Layton. I'm excited to be back closer to family and friends (and also a really cool girlfriend!).

I just have a sense that I've done what I've needed to do here in Lehi, and that was to regroup and rebuild after losing Leslie. I'm excited to be able to look forward to the future once more and be excited at what it can hold. I'm anxious to be done with my board exams and be a licensed pharmacist. It's just great to feel alive!

News update

Hello, everyone out in Blogger land. It's been a few months since the last post. Things have been busy with wrapping everything up with school, dating, etc. So here's a quick recap with what's been happening in my life.

1 - School is finally over! I finished my last rotation hours on Sept. 25th and I'm officially Robert Morris, PharmD. It feels good to be a doctor.

2 - I'm moving in a few weeks. I just found an apartment in Layton close to the Layton Hills Mall. It will be nice to be back in Davis County again close to the family and to Amber. Moving day is Halloween.

3 - Once I'm done taking my board exams, I've had a change in my working assignment for Walgreens. I'll be working full-time at their Ogden location. It's nice to be only assigned to one store instead of having to bounce between stores like the original plan was.

That's about everything that's happening right now. With having a little bit more free time, I'll hopefully have a little bit more time to blog.

June Recap

Ok, June has been a busy month for me and I haven't kept the blog up to date as I should. The month started out with Graduation. Although I still have a couple rotations to complete, it's nice to be done with classwork and be able to take my walk across the stage.

Along with Graduation has come some changes. I've started working for Walgreens as a grad intern. It's a good gig. It's been nice working full time the last few weeks and making good money. Of course, student loan payments have also come up, so it was nice timing.

Yesterday was my 10-year High School Reunion. It's amazing how quick time has flown. It was nice to see everyone who was there. Go Davis Darts!

Graduation, here I come!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Remediation is done. I've passed and now it's on to capstone and the graduation ceremony. I do have two more rotations to do this summer, but to know that the end is now so close is a great feeling.

June 6th is the walk while September 25th will be the last day of rotations and the day I technically will be Robert Morris, PharmD.

Remediation update #2

Remediation update

As some of you may know, I'm off rotations and having to go back to class to remediate a test I didn't do too well on last year. I took the first part of the test yesterday and missed 4 questions after factoring in team points. The test was about treating HIV, heptatitis, opportunistic infections and fungal infections. This was the best I've done on this section. I am going back on Monday, though, to see if I can't improve upon it. The other part of the test, which deals with facets of women's health, will take place next month. Wish me luck, because I need to pass this test in order to graduate.

So far, I'm doing ok.

Catch up on everything going on.

Well, I find myself up at 3 AM this morning. I went to bed super early last night after an extremely physical day of a good workout and then helping to paint Erin's new condo. I figured it might be a good time to catch everybody up on what's been going on, seeing I went a good month without saying much.

I just finished my infectious disease rotation a couple weeks ago. I've had the last couple weeks off to start getting ready for a test I have to retake next week on HIV. It's been nice to have the time off, but I really wish I was on rotation so I can be done with pharmacy school. During the time off, I have had some fun, too. I went with Amber to Bear Lake one weekend for her YSA branch getaway.

Also during the time off, I helped with UPhA's first legislative day, where we went and did health screenings up at the Utah State Capitol. UPhA recruited both USN and U of U to help out with the event. Both schools had been looking at working together on a project, and it was a success. I'm hoping to be able to find the time to help out next year when I'm a full-blown pharmacist.

I've done it!

Today while using Wii Fit, I found out that I met my goal of losing 10 lbs. I'm looking forward to keep it up and lose some more weight. I'm keeping to the same goal - 10 lbs in 3 months.

Moving troubles

As some of you may know, my sister and I are in the process of moving. We just found out today that the bank that Erin is buying the condo from is in the process of a merger now, and because of that, the closing on the condo has been delayed just a bit on the seller's side. By the look of things, we won't be moving this weekend. We'll keep everyone posted on the status of the move and when exactly Erin will have the keys to her brand new condo.

Goal update

Seeing we're almost done with the first month of 2009, I thought I would write about how I'm doing on some of the goals I set for myself. First, I've already lost 8 lbs. I have a goal to be down 10 lbs by the end of March. I should be able to hopefully pass that. Sorry, I have no miracle diet for everyone. I've just been getting off my lazy butt and exercising.

The Book of Mormon reading and Institute attendance have been good as well. I've been working with Amber on the reading with a reading program she's doing with her job. I'll be past pg. 45, which is the point we have to be on tomorrow. And I've been to Institute once a week since the beginning of the semester (twice in Lehi and once in Syracuse).

Things are really going well. I'm excited to keep up the good work.

Another year, another move

For those who don't know yet, I am moving once again. My sister has just purchased a condo in a complex next to the one where we are at right now. The move happens in the end of February.

This isn't the first time I've moved just in the same city. My family lived in two spots in both Centerville and Las Vegas.

If anyone wants to see pics of the new place, visit my sister's blog, rinMo's ritmo.

Amber

Time to update everyone a little bit on what's been going on for the past month and a half. I've been going out with this wonderful young lady up above. Her name is Amber. We met four years ago when I was going to Weber State. We went out for a couple months during fall semester, but things didn't work out then. We stayed friends and kept in touch.

Recently, we hooked back up when Amber had a date back out for the Weber State Institute Christmas concert. We had a good time and the good times have just kept coming since then. It's been awhile since I've had this much fun and I hope that it keeps up.

Rob Morris, Bug Slayer

It's time to tell everyone what I've been up to in school for the last couple weeks. My rotation this time around focuses on infectious diseases, so I get to kill "bugs" all day. I'm at Utah Valley Specialty Hospital, which is in Provo. UVSH is a LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) Center that people go to after staying at a primary care hospital, such as St. Mark's, IMC and all the other hospitals you usually hear about in the area. If you go to UVSH, you're usually in bad enough shape that it takes at least about a month to recover. It's not a place you want to go, but it's good to know it's there when you need it.

Mainly what I'm doing there is making sure that the doctors are using the right antibiotics to kill any infections there are and also make sure they're not using the most expensive ones first. The expensive ones are usually the newest and best, and we want to keep them that way. Somedays, I kinda feel like I'm playing Dr. Mario, throwing pills at the bugs and killing them.

Holiday wrap-up

Christmas has come and gone, as has 2008. It's crazy to think it's 2009 already. And unfortunately, I've had too much of a good time the last couple weeks that I can't believe I have to go back to the daily grind of rotations coming up on Monday.

I had fun visting with family and friends for my birthday, Christmas and New Year's Day. I rocked out on my new toys (Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2) and even been on a few dates (with a new girl not previously stated on the blog). I've definitely have started the New Year on the right foot this year, and I'm hoping to keep the momentum going.

I have a few goals for the year. They would be:

1. Read the Book of Mormon
2. Lose 10 pounds by the end of March.
3. Graduate pharmacy school and be done with school (finally)!
4. Keep dating.
5. Start going to Institute once again.

Here's hoping to a great 2009!