Snow has fallen

We had our first real snow yesterday. A couple of weeks ago we had some snow but it didn't stick, but yesterday we woke up to a winter wonderland.
So we are moving into the next stage of our life. We are moving to Miami to go to the Prep Med School for Ross University. We are in the process of finding an apartment to live in. I think we found a good one, but I don't know how long it will stay available. We can't reserve it until we get our loan. I have started packing up our stuff. Johnny and I got a lot done over the weekend. Now I just need to do a couple boxes a day and we should be in good shape. The plan is to be out of our apartment on the 21st. We will stay with Johnny's parents for Thanksgiving and then fly to Miami on the 28th. Orientation starts on the 30th.
I will hopefully find a job and work while we are there. My boss at au naturale lived in Miami for 20 years and says he will help me find a job because he knows lots of people in the restaurant business. I really hope this will help.
I'm glad we will be getting away from the cold. Snow is fun, but not the cold. Especially when your a ditz and forget your coat when your running out the door in the morning.

But What Will I Wear!!!!

Fall has come to Salt Lake. I promised pictures. These are in my back yard.
Johnny and I went to the temple today. It was a great session. The first time I went to the live session I really didn't enjoy it but this time was different. I wished it could go on longer. The Salt Lake Temple is so beautiful.
I took a picture of myself so you all can see my wonderful brown hair. I wish I could have been naturally this color, but I guess the dye will have to do.

Long Time No Post

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I worked all day Saturday. Sunday we ended up sleeping through our alarm so we missed church. We both have been sick and so I think we needed the rest.
One of the ladies I work with had a party on Sunday evening. I missed her birthday party so I felt I needed to go. It was a birthday/welcome to the USA party for her children. It was fun even though it was a kid party. There was a clown and he looked like he could be one of dad's brothers. he looked a lot like Uncle Vance. He was really good. He did a magic show and made balloon hats and animals.
We heard back from Ross. We didn't get direct admittance. They invited Johnny to go to their MERP program. Its kind of like a prep school for medical school. If you pass you go to Ross, if you fail they assume your not cut out for med school and you don't get in. We have a lot of decisions to make in the next little while. I will let you know when we have our definite plans. If you have more questions about MERP let me know and I will do my best to answer them.

The Story of My Life

Today I woke up feeling worse than I did yesterday. I took Johnny to work, came back home, and then went right back to bed. I did eventually get out of bed after a lot of convincing. I had to go to work and clean my house which was still a mess from coming home from Denver. We've been so sick and so busy we still hadn't unpacked. It was another slow day at work, but that was fine by me cause I wasn't feeling well at all. Well I took some NyQuil and my head seems to be bobbing, so its off to bed with me. GOODNIGHT!!!

Trip to Logan

We had a very disappointing trip to Logan today. The only good thing was we got to see Rachel, Rebekah, and David for a few minutes. We went to the school and saw that the professor had his office hours at 3:00 so we went to Smiths to see if any of Johnny's old friends were working. None were so it was pointless. We got back to the school but found out the professor didn't stay because it was fall break. So no luck there either. I was so mad. We went all the up there and nothing. Johnny's professor did email him though and said he would send it priority mail this time and hoped that would work better. We hope that both letters will be in Jersey by Monday. On our way leaving Logan we got in a little crash. Nothing bad, we just kinda bumped the car in front of us when we were stopped at a red light. The other persons car only had a scratch, but our front license plate fell off. That was not the end to the bad things that happened today. I ended up being late for work because of the crash. So all in all it was a bummer day. I hope tomorrow is a little better.

Interview Questions

I feel like I should put another picture of Dominica with this post! Enjoy!!!
This is a great list of the questions you will be asked at your interview. You won't be asked all of these, but its a good idea to have answers ready for all of them. I have also been told that they show you a 20 minute video about Ross, even though Johnny was not shown one. Sorry if some of the questions are duplicated. Someone else wrote the rest of this post. This is some one else's experience, but Johnny was also questioned from this list. Johnny says he will write more about his personal experience if he gets accepted. So when that wonderful day comes you can hear more from him. I will put a * before the questions I remember Johnny saying he was asked. He may have been asked more, these are just what I remember. Hope this helps!

*"Why do you want to be a doctor?
What types of leadership positions did you have in college?
*What types of clinical experience do you have?
*Will you be able to survive on the island?
What has been your greatest hardship and how did you deal with it?
What was your favorite class in college and why?
Why did you get a "C" in this course?
What other schools have you applied to?
What was the result of applying to those schools?
Why were you not accepted to a US medical school?
Why are you applying to Ross?
Are you content with becoming an FMG vs. being a US Medical grad?
*What is your weakness?
*What is your strength?
*What do you know about living in Dominica?
*How do you feel about living in a third world country?
How do you deal with stress/pressure?
What made you want to go to Ross?
If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?
How did you get here?
Why would you be a good doctor?
What would you do if you don’t get in to medical school?
What do you feel are the most important qualities in being a good doctor?
What do you do to alleviate stress? What are your hobbies?
Are you a leader or a follower? Give examples...
What exposure have you had to the medical profession? Healthcare experience? *What did you do when you volunteered at ----? (Johnny was asked about his clinical experience and about a Pre-Med school class he helped start at USU, not volunteer work.)
What do you think you will like most about medicine/being a doctor?



"Don’t freak out. Stay calm and composed. The interviewer will inform you that he/she is not the one to make the admissions decision but it is rather a Committee who decides your fate. However, he/she will take notes during the interview and write a summary, which will be sent to this Committee. Incidentally, during a recent Ross University Open House held in NY the following statistics were cited: “If you have been granted an interview, there is a 65% chance that you will gain admittance to Ross University School of Medicine.” So the interview is somewhat important. Dress professionally; be well groomed, and well mannered.
Be able to answer the following:

Again:

Most important question:
Why do you want to be a doctor?
What motivates you to pursue this field?
What makes you unique?
What other field would you choose if you do not get accepted to any Medical School (Caribbean or otherwise)?
Why did you get (insert bad grade) in (insert class)?
What was the most challenging class for you during your undergraduate studies and why do you think so?
Will you be able to handle living in a foreign country?
What characteristics do you possess that makes you adaptable?
What are the characteristics of a good/bad doctor?
How would a friend describe you?
What do you think would be the hardest part of the medical school curriculum for you and why?
What are your study habits?
What field of medicine interests you most and why?
What do you know about Ross and why did you choose to apply here?
What other schools have you applied to?
What else would you like to tell the Committee about yourself that is not included in your essay or application?
*Do you have any questions?


My overall advice for the interview? Just BE the 3 C’s: Confident, Calm, and Courteous.
And KNOW the 3 E’s: Your Essay, Experiences, and Expectations."

These helped me tremedously and nothing else was asked. All the questions came out of this list. Enjoy and good luck.

Our Denver Trip

Sunday we left at about 10:30. It was later than we wanted but we had both worked twelve hour shifts so we were a little tired. There was a really big storm in Colorado the day before we left so we were a little worried about the roads. They were fine, but right when we were going in to Colorado there was a ton of fog and the visibility was pretty bad. We got to Johnny's aunt's house about 6:15 after getting a little lost. They had a great turkey dinner waiting for us. It was wonderful after along day of no food. We decided that we didn't really want to just drive all day Monday when we had just driven all day Sunday, so we decided to drive back Tuesday. So after Johnny's interview we went to Estes Park. It was a nice fall day in the mountains. We walked around down town and then headed up to the Stanley Hotel. Its a really famous hotel that happens to be totally haunted. It was really interesting to visit. I one of the shops there was this huge dog and I thought it was like a stuffed dog, but it was totally real. It was an Irish Bloodhound and the most laid back dog I ever saw. On our way home we spotted some big horned sheep. I cooked dinner for Faye and Bob on Monday night and made Pea and Potato Soup and rolls which was really nice for the cold day. When we woke up Tuesday we were both really sick and over slept so we got off a little later than planned. The drive home was fine and we got in about 7:00.
Johnny said the interview went really well, but he can't be accepted until they get both of the letters of recommendation. We are going to go to Logan tomorrow to see his professor and get the letter from him and send it priority mail ourselves. We are doing the same with the one form his boss today. Hopefully this whole letter thing will be over in a couple of days. I'm hoping to get Johnny to write about the interview because I can't tell you what happened.

Me, not having much fun.

We got back from Denver this evening. I think I just had the worst day. I have been feeling a cold coming on, but it was full force when I woke up this morning. It wouldn't have been so bad but I had given my cold to Johnny as well. So we had two very sick people driving home for seven hours. It wasn't very fun. We did have a good time in Denver and even stayed an extra day. I will write all about it tomorrow. I'm not really in the mood to write all the things we did and post all the pictures tonight. Thank you again to Faye and Bob for letting us stay in their wonderful home. It is always so comfortable at your house and I love getting to know you better, and all the Nana stories!

Into the Cold

Tomorrow we leave for Denver for Johnny's interview. I am pleased to let you know that admissions finally got one of his letters or recommendation. So we are in the clear for now. I don't know exactly what will happen if they don't get both letters. I'm hoping it doesn't really matter. I'm a little nervous to drive tomorrow because apparently Colorado got a big snow storm today. Hopefully the roads are good. I DO want to play in the snow a little. We will see. Maybe I can get Johnny to play with me. He isn't the biggest fan of snow, but he is the biggest fan of me.

Celebrating One Year

Tomorrow we are going to be celebrating our one year anniversary at Au Naturale. I get to celebrate by working an extra 2 hours. I'm so excited!!! I worked all day, again. It was slow, again. I was all by myself, again. Sorry I don't mean to complain, but nine hours of cleaning things that aren't dirty is pretty boring. That is all for today. We are still waiting to hear back from admissions about the letters of recommendation. Johnny talked to her today and she said she would do some searching for us. Hopefully it works!

Letters of Recommendations

Well things didn't work out like we thought. We were planning on trying to do the interview on Friday but he will be doing it on Monday. We are a little nervous because we talked to the admission lady and she said the letters of recommendation still are not in, but we have to have them to her before the interview. I guess she didn't even get the emailed ones. But the lady that is doing the interview said they at least have to have one before they will even schedule the interview. I don't know what to do and I am really confused. Please keep praying for us. We need your support.

Catching up

Yesterday was a long day. I was at work ALL day. I was sad that I missed the Saturday sessions of conference, but today's sessions were great! I especially liked President Eyring's and Elder Holland's talks. Johnny had to work this evening so I was all by myself tonight. I called Lisa to talk to her and then Breeana called me about five minutes after I hung up with Lisa. It was great getting to talk to my girlfriends. Thanks you guys for letting me gab with you girls!
I Have to give some Happy Birthday shout outs to people. Both my niece Rebekah and my sis-in-law Rebekah just had their birthdays. Chris's birthday was today and his wife Emily had one on the 23rd. So happy birthday to all. I hope you had good days.
So Friday was such a GREAT day!!! We have been waiting for Johnny's letters of recommendation to come in so he could get an interview. Well he finally got THE email! We think that it is because we had his letters emailed on Thursday. We hope the originals get there soon. I wanted to let everyone know our experience because this part we didn't know what to expect even with all the research we did. I thought they were going to let us know the day and time of the interview but instead they have you contact them. I thought from the research I did that they just had someone come interview in you area, but no. They have different places that they interview people around the country. The closest on to us happens to be in Denver. So we are hoping to have the interview on Friday. We didn't get the email until four on Friday and we called a few times with no answer, so we don't know exactly how the actual scheduling will work, I'll let you know. Here is a copy of what the email said. I left out the email address and phone number for privacy reasons. Hope this helps all you want to be med students out there. I will keep the info coming!

Congratulations on being selected for the second phase of our application process, the personal interview.

Interviews are conducted at our Denver Branch Office Monday through Friday; please contact me at fakeemail@rossu.edu or ###-###-#### immediately in order to schedule an appointment. Be ready to discuss your availability.

The address is:

Fake Address

The interview site is about 40 minutes from Denver International Airport by car. The local public transportation company is RTD (http://www.rtd-denver.com); the airport bus will bring you about half a mile from the office (bus stop: Arapahoe Park and Ride). It will be a short walk after that.

You can also choose a shuttle service (such as http://www.supershuttle.com); both options are usually less expensive than a cab ride. We do not work with any of these companies, so choose one at your discretion.

If you are driving, public parking is available across from the building and it’s free for the first 2 hours.

I look forward to hearing back from you and to our meeting! Once again congratulations!

I promised pictures and a video so here they are as well. I love you all and thank you for the prayers, and please keep them coming. Bless Johnny to do a good job on the interview.

BYU vs. USU

BYU won again. They played Utah State where Johnny graduated. It was fun hearing the Utah State fight song again. USU fans are hard core. They even brought their band with them to the game. I will post the pictures and a video later, probably on Sunday because I have a 12 hour shift tomorrow and won't really have much time and to be honest I probably won't feel much like doing it. So I'll write more later, I'm going to bed! Good night!

Happy Birthday to ME!

I'm 22 years old now. Its not really that exciting and my day was even less exciting. I was at work all day. I had a nine hour shift and the weather was horrible yesterday. When the weather is bad it is slow at work. My boss said we had the lowest sales we have ever had. So I spent my day cleaning.
Tuesday was a good day. Johnny took me out to lunch and then we went to the mall and walked around together. It was really nice to just walk around and just talk.
We are having some issues. Johnny's letters of recommendation are still not in and its been two weeks since they said they sent them. We a really stressing about this because there is no reason it takes two weeks for letters to get from Salt Lake to New Jersey. He's been in contact with the admissions people and they say once those come in they really want to interview him. They said we could have them e-mail the letters and then we could have an interview scheduled and then hope that the letters come in before the interview. We will let you know what happens.