Adelyn McCall Rogers

This is our new baby cousin/"niece", Adelyn. We had the privilege of meeting this sweet bundle of joy this weekend!

My long-awaited rotation schedule is here!

My 4th year rotation schedule was finalized this week! It is hard to believe that I will be finishing up the didactic portion of pharmacy school in a few short months. My rotations run from May 1, 2012 until April 30, 2013. I have 9 rotations during this 12 month period, so I have 3 months off...July, December, and April. 

I was pleased with my schedule for the most part! I am most excited about going to Barney's pharmacy in Augusta, GA. They are at the forefront of many new things in pharmacy, and I anticipate that I will learn a lot. Barney's also has a huge patient counseling and community education program that I hope to be involved with during my month there. The thought of leaving Cole for a month is heartbreaking, but at least I will get to see him on the weekends. I am very thankful for my friend Caroline and her family for offering to open their home for me. I will also be spending a month at Deyten's Pharmacy at the shipyard in North Charleston. This pharmacy is connected to Harvest Free Medical Clinic, where both Cole and I have enjoyed volunteering while we have been in Charleston. It is owned by some great family friends, and I am looking forward to being a part of it! Maybe Cole can swing a rotation there at the same time too! My other community pharmacy experience will be at Plantation Pharmacy. I have two acute care rotations at MUSC. I will be working on the internal medicine floor with Dr. Bohm and on pulmonary medicine with Dr. Bullington. I have 3 ambulatory care rotations, two of which are at the VA clinics and the other one at Dr. Durrence's family practice on James Island. My institutional rotation is going to be with a Mt. Pleasant home infusion company. 

I am really looking forward starting these rotations, but I do not want to wish away my student schedule too fast. (Rotations will be more like a "job" with homework). During the waiting process before this schedule was released, I took comfort that the Lord has total control over the details of my schedule. I trust His placement and timing, and I am anxious to see what He has to teach me! I pray that most of all, I will learn and further develop the skill-set I need to be a competent professional and a compassionate pharmacist. 

Mountains

This post is about a week late, but I couldn't help but share our fun weekend in the mountains with Ruthie and Sam. 

Despite the cold frigid air and whipping wind, it warmed up just enough during the day to hike, fish, and grill.

Sam is an expert fly fisherman. He taught Cole the basics on the lake, but I think the fish were too cold to bite. Ruthie and I settled for a walk to keep our bodies moving and warm!

 We had too much good food all weekend, and needless to say, our coolers went back nearly empty!

Grilled pork skewers

Ruthie and I also did a little baking. We improvised and got creative with baking tools. They must have worked because our pastries were very tasty!!

Beer bottle as a rolling pin 

Grill tool

 I told you it was cold...

Hiking, cooking, eating, reading, napping, and games...sounds like every trip we take to the mountains...and that is what I LOVE about it!

Ruthie is teaching me how to make homemade sourdough bread. My first batch goes in the oven this morning. Hopefully it will turn out good!!

Another Favorite Unique Kitchen Tool #3

Vidalia Chop Wizard

A night rarely goes by in my kitchen when I don't pull this thing out.  Maybe it is just supposed to be for onions (note the name and picture on top), but it cuts through anything and makes any recipe calling for a little chopping much easier (and safer). The green part comes in a variety of sizes so you can choose what size it chops. The bottom part also serves as a measuring cup. It cleans easily in the dishwasher.

Above I am using it to chop pears and apricots for Pear Chutney Bruschetta.

I use it for onions in my favorite Summer Tomato Pie.

It even cuts potatoes for Potato and Pesto Soup.

Black-Eyed Pea Dip, or any other salsa, is easy to make at home. I chop the peppers and onions.

And many, many, more...

If you are hooked, and you should be, I believe they sell them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. You won't regret it.

To see my other favorite unique kitchen tools, click on the name: Pineapple Cutter and Cherry Pitter

Peanut Butter, Banana, and Flax Seed Smoothies

This is my new favorite smoothie flavor combination. I have already made it twice this week (and it is only Tuesday), and am craving it again! Great for breakfast or an afternoon snack...

Peanut Butter, Banana, and Flax Seed Smoothies

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 T flax seed 

1 T peanut butter

1 T honey

1 T vanilla extract

1 ripe banana

1 cup crushed ice

Mix all ingredients in blender. 

(Recipe adapted from Cooking Light)

Laura Story

I was thrilled to hear that my favorite singer/songwriter won a much-deserved Grammy last night for her song "Blessings" (music on blog).

As a Spartanburg native and Wofford College alumnus, Laura often came home to play guitar, sing, and speak. I had the privilege of hearing her 3 different times while I was at Wofford. Her music and testimony speak to my heart and have guided many of my worship times with the Lord. I am so thankful for her!

To read her testimony and details on her grammy, click here.

If you haven't heard of "Blessings", perhaps you may have heard of the song "Indescribable". Laura wrote this song as well, and it has been used by multiple other artists on the radio. To hear her other music, click here. 

As You Are

"As You Are" by Paul David Tripp is one of the best articles I have read in a long while. It put me in my place over and over again this week. I hope that you will take time this weekend to read it and take it's message to heart. 

Though the power of sin has been broken, the presence of sin remains. So it's vital that we remember the deceitfulness of sin. We tend to want to believe that we hold an accurate and reliable view of ourselves. But on this side of glorification that is not always true, precisely because sin lives in a costume. While counseling pastors, I have often been struck with the reality that the man sitting in front of me lacked accurate knowledge of himself. And you can't grieve what you don't see, you can't confess what you haven't grieved, and you can't repent of what you haven't confessed.

Evil doesn't always look evil, and sin often looks so good---this is part of what makes it so bad. In order for sin to do its evil work, it must present itself as something that is anything but evil. Life in a fallen world is like attending the ultimate masquerade party. An impatient moment of yelling wears the costume of zeal for truth. Lust masquerades as a love for beauty. Gossip lives in the costume of concern and prayer. Craving for power and control wears the mask of biblical leadership. Fear of man gets dressed up as being a peacemaker or having a servant heart. Pride in always being right masquerades as a love for biblical wisdom.

You'll never understand sin's sleight of hand until you acknowledge that a significant part of the DNA of sin is deception. As sinners we are all very committed and gifted self-swindlers. No one is more influential in your life than you, because you talk to yourself more than anyone else does. What you say to yourself is profoundly important. Your words either aid God's work of conviction and confession or they assist sin's system of deception. So it's important to humbly admit that we're all too skilled at looking at our own wrong and seeing good. We're all much better at seeing the sin, weakness, and failure of others than we are our own. We're all very good at being intolerant in others the very things that we willingly tolerate in ourselves. The bottom line is that sin causes us not to hear or see ourselves with accuracy. And we not only tend to be blind, but, to compound matters, we also tend to be blind to our blindness.

What does all of this mean? Even as you do the work of the ministry, it is important to remember that accurate self-assessment is the product of grace. Only in the mirror of God's Word and with the sight-giving help of the Holy Spirit are we able to see ourselves accurately. In those painful moments of accurate self-sight, we may not feel as if we are being loved, but that is exactly what is happening. God, who loves us enough to sacrifice his Son for our redemption, works so that we would see ourselves clearly, so that we would not buy into the delusion of our own righteousness. He gives us a humble sense of personal need so we'll seek the resources of grace that can only be found in him.

In this way, your painful moments of sight, conviction, grief, and confession are both the saddest and most joyous of moments. It is sad that we yet need to confess what we must confess. At the same time, accurately seeing and fully acknowledging our sin is a cause for celebration. Only Jesus can open blind eyes. Whenever a sinner accurately assesses his sin, the angels in heaven rejoice, and so should we, even when that sinner is us.

BSF is teaching me that a big part of the sanctifying process in Jesus Christ is realizing sin, confessing sin, and then fleeing from sin. I am praying that the Holy Spirit will continually reveal my sins to me and stop Satan from tempting me to justify, excuse, and hide them.  

What consumes your mind?

I had a big whopper test on Friday on the treatment for the various psychiatric disorders. I seemed to have studied so much, much more than I normally do for a test. I am not sure why, except maybe that we had a shorter time between this test and our previous one (and I had quite a few social events planned), so I began studying right away...which led to about 10 days of studying versus my normal few. Alison, Molly, and I made the best out of it last week by spending considerable amounts of time at Starbucks and Bagel Nation. One of the things I love about being a student is getting to spend most days with my friends!

I am burned out!! Since then, and especially over the weekend, ALL I can seem to think about are the psychiatric treatment algorithms and medications. Is this nerdy or what?! They just pop in my head all day! Everything seems to conjure up these thoughts...I hear someone complaining of an ailment and I think of which drugs have this side effect...or I hear someone say they are anxious and I think about the treatment algorithm for anxiety...Ah!

This has reminded me of importance of what you permeate your mind with...I am not saying it is bad to learn things well or spend time learning, (this is my career and I do feel I am called to put much time and effort into it and do it well)...but, it is just a reminder of what you spend your time doing and thinking about definitely affects your thoughts. I remember my parents telling me this all the time, and it was their reason of limiting the movies I watched and music I listened to. I am not sure I was convinced then that it mattered...and even probably thought "well, I only like the beat/tune...the words don't matter". Sound familiar?

I have been convicted with the thought of how great it would be if my mind was this set of things of Christ. What if my thoughts were so permeated with Christ, that everything reminded me of Him?!  I must put more time into learning, understanding, and praying through His Word for it to completely fill my mind...and I have learned that this is possible!

"Set your minds on things above, and not on earthly things." 

-Colossians 3:2

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." 

-Philippians 4:8

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." 

-Psalm 1:2 

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you...

My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times." 

-Psalm 119:11, 20

"Hearty" Cooking

Here are some other fun Valentine's Day-inspired dishes to show a little extra love throughout the day!!

For breakfast: Heart-shaped Pancakes...sooo cute...however, I will not be making these because I had blueberry pancakes 3 times last week (yes, by choice). Did I just admit that?!

For lunch: Arugula salad with red and yellow heart-shaped beets

For dinner: Chicken soup with heart-shaped carrots.

For dessert: Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies (Can you tell this is my new favorite cooking blog?!)

(All pictures from google)

Happy February!!

February means...

1. I get an excuse to celebrate my love, Cole. 

2. GIRL SCOUT cookies

3. A new wreath (below)

4. My rotation schedule for next year is released

5. New baby cousin soon!!

6. Valentine's Day baking (below)

7. Fun MUSC events: Charity Ball/Auction and wine tasting

8. I get to wear my Christmas reds once last time

9. Almost Spring Break...hurry up March 2nd!

A new season calls for a new door wreath. I made this one (when I should have been studying for my tests!) out of a grapevine wreath and nandina berries. 

Do you need any Valentine's Day baking ideas?

I made these festive sugar cookies last year. When the cookies are still warm, wash your hands and then press your thumb into the cookie to make the heart shape for the filling. I chose to use cream cheese icing and raspberry jam.

This week I want to try these!

Super Bowl Munchies and Thankful for Community

Every Sunday evening we share a meal with our community of believers. It is so important for us to not only to reach out to unbelievers, but to take time to nourish our own souls as well. We don't have a particular study or agenda since we are all in other Bible studies, but instead we use this time to encourage one another, give and take advice, laugh, share struggles and needs, and even pray for whatever is at hand. We appreciate the Lovelace's, Crumpler's, Joyner's, (almost) Tyner's, Braddy's, Voskuil's, Kroll's, Kornegay's, and the Patterson's for their positive influence, accountability, and encouragement to Cole and me.

I remember being anxious when Cole and I committed to MUSC about leaving our communities in college and starting over here in Charleston. We immediately started praying for friends and a community of believers, because we knew how vital that had been to our faith. I'll be honest and say that I prayed pretty much unexpectedly, not believing we could have a community as great as the ones in college. But, the Lord had greater things in mind, and we have been blessed with a great group of friends, that extends way beyond this list above! Thanks be to God!

"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the 

gospel of God but out lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." 

-1 Thess. 2:8

" They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, 

to the breaking of bread, and to prayer...They broke bread in their homes and 

ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

 And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." 

-Acts 2:42, 47

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, 

but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching." 

-Hebrews 10:23-25

Last night, we shared our meal over the Super Bowl. Here are the munchies I took to share...

Summer Sausage, Cheddar Cheese, Ritz (I was so bummed the grocery store didn't have the football shaped ones!), and Raspberry Honey Mustard Sauce...always a hit!

Molly recommended these Peanut Butter Granola Bars to me, and I have been awaiting an occasion to make them. I was able to throw them together quickly this evening. I ended up tripling the recipe so Cole and I could have them for snacks this week. Yum!!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup crisp rice cereal
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup dried fruit (I used craisons)
• I added chocolate chips :)

Directions

1. In a small saucepan over medium, heat honey, peanut butter, and butter. Stir until loosened and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cereal, oats, and dried fruit. Wait another few minutes and add in chocolate chips. 
2. Drop mixture by the tablespoon into mini paper cupcake or candy liners. Place on a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes.