From the Plains of Nebraska to OKC…

~ Olympic Ring Barge in Vancouver, British Columbia

I finally got around to writing my post on Vancouver and British Columbia.  It was a heck of a trip and I had tons of photos to sort through.  I narrowed it down to about 30 pictures which was really super hard to do, but I managed to do it.  While we were in Vancouver as all of you know the Olympics were going on, therefore I did not get the Vancouver feel of the city and got more of the hectic fast paced Olympic feel.  It was a remarkably beautiful town with spectacular views, which I suppose semi justifies the prices to live there.  Pretty much the only down fall to the entire city was the cost of housing there, otherwise I am certain that Jen and I would live there in a heart beat.  I can tell that after the Olympics were on television, no matter the cost of living there, people are going to be moving there in waves after the terrific camera shots and videos of Vancouver.  The most amazing thing of the whole trip was the transit system.  It was more efficient than any transit system I have ever been on in my whole life.  It was much more efficient than anything in Denver or Chicago and Omaha and Oklahoma City don’t have 1/10th that type of transit.  Additionally, the food was excellent and the hospitality even better.  It was nice to see the city from the local residents perspective.  I think this was the first place we have traveled other than where we live that we have gotten a more local type of tour.  We had the most wonderful tour guides like Simona, Julie, Christina, Markus, Brigette, and of course the wonderful Jen herself.

~ Alex Fraser Bridge                       ~BC Place

The first day was mainly about Olympics for Jen and I.  We headed down to the stadium early and got in line for the USA vs. Switzerland game.  It was amazing to see so many people wearing Canada stuff.  The reason for this is all the other times I have been in Canada you had to search just to see a flag never mind the people and what they were wearing.  It was so awesome to see the Canadians buying stuff as fast as they could produce it and wearing it all over the city.  I hope that continues because Canadians have a ton to be proud of and they should show their patriotism a little more often.  Anyway, we waited in line early because we heard about all these horrible security lines and did not want to miss part of the game because of them.  However, arriving two and a half hours early alleviated the long lines and we were right near the front all three days of hockey games that we went to.  The curling was a different story, but I will get to that.  The first hockey game was amazing as the USA won 3-1 and we had amazing seats.  It was a great time and a great atmosphere.  I couldn’t have asked for anything more for a first Olympic experience.

~Line up Day 1                               ~Seats Day 1 USA vs. Swiss

~ B with his USA flag in the seats on Day 1

After the hockey game, Brigette and Markus came downtown to meet us and walk around with us.  We visited a bunch of neat locations that are must see during the Olympics.  The first was the Olympic flame, then we moved on to the Olympic ring barge, downtown and some of the shops and important Vancouver tourist sites.  We then headed back home exhausted, but so happy to be on vacation in such a beautiful location.

~ Olympic Flame in Vancouver

~ Site from one of the piers     ~Picture toward downtown from the pier

Day two was a bit more relaxed because we did not have any Olympic events to attend.  We first hustled over and were late to join Mel for coffee at Starbucks on the University of British Columbia campus.  I must say though that it was a beautiful campus and I was sad that Jen really did not get to spend much time with her while we were there.  There was just so much going on and so many people to see that some people really were cheated out of time with Jen.  Hopefully, the next time we go there will not be fifteen other things going on.  Next we went back toward downtown and went to see another of Jen’s friends, Karen.  It was great to be able to see the inside of the buildings and relax for awhile in such a great atmosphere.  Her home was very cozy and she had two wonderful cats that were quite friendly to my surprise.  She also took us up on the roof for a few pictures of downtown which was wonderful because up until that time I kept getting power lines in all my good photos.  Not that I am a professional photographer as you can tell by my photos, but even I know that power lines running through landscape photos looks bad.  The only downer during this whole day was the fact that Karen could not come with us to eat because of a plumbing issue.  It was really too bad to because the Mexican food that we had was fantastic.

~ Vancouver Skyline from Karen’s Apartment

The third day we went to another USA hockey game and this time they were paired up with Norway.  It was a great game as the USA won 6-1 and we had another set of magnificent seats.  In fact the seats were so good that in order to get to them the security checked our tickets three times to make sure we were in the right place.  We were right below the media and they were spectacular, ten rows off the glass.  It was a ton of fun for me and I really could not thank Jen enough for the tickets, but I wish we could have gotten tickets to something Canadian.  It was sort of more of a USA Olympics for us because we couldn’t get any tickets to any Canadian events because they were all sold out.  However, I really do appreciate her sucking it up and allowing me to smile with pride as the USA took it to Switzerland and Norway.

~ Hockey Day 1                          ~ Flags inside Canada Hockey Place

~ Scoreboard before the game vs. the Swiss

~ Seats Day 2                             ~ USA vs. Norway warm-ups

After the hockey game on Day three we again met up with our wonderful hosts Markus and Brigette and walked around down in Granville Island.  Jen and I had some wonderful desserts at The Keg and then met up with Markus and Brigette at the Granville Island Brewery.  I tried their sampler and it was pretty decent.  They also had the sampler, but got them all whereas I just went with half of the sampler.  It was about 4 oz. of beer in each sampler and it really gave the feel of the Upstream Brewery in Omaha, Nebraska.  It was a lot of fun to sit there and have some casual conversation with them before heading back toward their home in New Westminster.  We stopped and ate at the pub right by their home before heading off to sleep and it was amazing.  The food was to die for, much better than any pub food that I have had anywhere else and during that dinner we got to see Sean White land his infamous McTwist that won him the gold medal.  It was a great day for Olympics and Vancouver food tasting.

Day four was yet another day of hockey.  This time we were sitting center ice and it was Belarus vs. Sweden.  It was really heart warming and amazing to see all these people travel that far just to watch their country play.  Belarus was the underdog and I really wanted to see them pull one out, but they were unable to do so.  However, it was easily the best hockey game that we saw while we were in Vancouver.  Belarus came back and got within hitting the crossbar to tying the game up.  It was a lot of fun and so awesome to see so many patriotic passionate fans.  After the game we headed out to meet Julie, Simona, Markus, and Brigette for food at the Yaletown Brewery.  It was another place that Jen thought I would really enjoy and man was she right.  The food was very fresh and reasonable and the beer was good again.  You really cannot go to Vancouver without trying the micro breweries there.  They were pretty awesome even if you only get the sampler.  After the Yaletown Brewery, we walked to Simona’s house and along the way we crossed the Burrard Bridge.  It was awesome because it was just turning to night and we got some great pictures off of the bridge.  Then Simona took us to Christina’s house where we got to meet her cat and dog and then head out for some sushi.  It was so awesome that she was able to meet up with us on her busy schedule, but it went by way too fast.  The whole trip went by way too fast.  Jen got to see her friends, but it was only a short time and I hope we get back there sooner rather than later.

~ Granville Island Bridge               ~Flags from our seats Day 4

~ Seats Belarus vs. Sweden        ~ Landscape from the Pier

~ Taken from Burrard Bridge

~ Taken from Burrard Bridge

Our last day in Vancouver took us to Vancouver Olympic Stadium for some curling.  I had always watched curling on television and wanted to see what it was about in person.  It was awesome, by the way.  The Canadian fans made it a lot of fun to watch because they were really into it.  It also helped that the USA won one of their only two wins while we were there by going to an extra end with Sweden.  Shuster and the boys did not fair very well, but I have confidence that they will only get better.  Compared to most of the good teams the US team seemed to be a bit young and more inexperienced than the other countries and it showed on the ice.  However, the facility was amazing and if we would have had slightly better seats it would have been some of the most fun I had while at the Olympics to be honest.  The only downfall to the whole thing was the amount of people they were trying to shove through only eight security lanes.  I would have thought Canada Hockey Place would have been like this, but man the security at the curling was slow and really tested one’s patience.  We made it inside after the first end though and got to see the rest which was great.  After curling, we rode around with Julie and Simona and ate at one of Jen’s favorite restaurants when she used to live there.  I finally got my poutine here and then we went to look for red mittens.  No luck, but what followed was probably the highlight of the landscape views that we had.  Simona took us to a wonderful spot overlooking all of Vancouver.  It was an amazing spot for these people to live at and I would have given anything to sit there for hours.  We were only there ten minutes, but it was the best view of Vancouver we had the whole time we were there.  After our site seeing trip, Simona took Jen, Julie, and I for the best Caesar I have ever had and then to the Amtrak station for our trip home.

After reading all this you probably thought man they were there for a long time, but let me tell you we were there not nearly long enough.  Canada has a ton to be proud of and I hope they continue to sport their Canadian gear and fly those flags.  A huge special thanks to all our wonderful guides and friends in Vancouver especially Simona for driving us around, Julie for showing us her apartment and buying us a Caesar or two, Markus and Brigette for letting us stay in their wonderful home, Christina for taking the time out of her busy schedule for sushi, and Mel for meeting us for coffee and being patient while we were running late.  It was awesome and I hope we get back again soon.

~ Curling Line-up for Security      ~ Curling Arena

~ Curling Arena                          ~ Shuster from Team USA

~ Vancouver from Simona’s special sightseeing spot

~ Jen and I in Vancouver on Saturday February 20, 2010

~ Earliest Known Picture of Seattle from the Underground Tour

We flew out after I got off of work on Sunday the 14th and got in at about 8:30 p.m. pacific time.  However, that is 10:30 p.m. central time and we were both exhausted.  We both decided to head to bed, while in Seattle, on Valentine’s Day.  Yeah, not really what I had in mind, but it was very comfortable and the place had a fantastic staff.  If you are ever looking for a place to stay in Seattle, I highly recommend the Pioneer Square Best Western.  It is close enough to everything that you can walk and the price was very reasonable compared to most of the other places around there.  With Jen’s CAA card we got a great rate of $103 total.  Plus they had free Continental breakfast.  We got up very early for Seattle because we were still used to central time and nothing really was open.

~ Pier 70 on Waterfront                   ~ Docked Ship on Waterfront

Therefore, we just wondered around and took several pictures in the early morning fog as we headed up the street to the Space Needle.  Our original plan was to have lunch in the Space Needle for my Valentine’s Day gift to her.  However, we talked about it and really did not want to spend $50 for food when all you could see would be a cloud.  Therefore, we canceled our reservation and simply took pictures along the way to the Space Needle and at the Space Needle.  The walk was not a total loss though because we did head into one of the better breakfast places I have ever had and got some great pictures even if it was foggy.  The cafe that we ate at was called the Bang Bang Cafe.  I highly recommend the breakfast burrito.  It will fill you up and it is fabulous, plus the staff here is super nice as well.  It is about 7 blocks south of the Space Needle.  We also walked around Olympic Park and through the Bill and Melinda Gates Amphitheater.   It was a wonderful morning even if we didn’t get to go up in the Space Needle.

~ Jen at the amphitheater       ~ Some sort of metal sculpture of a tree

I thought for certain that the tree was real at first it was so well done.  Hence, why I just had to take a picture and share it with you.  After our visit to the Space Needle we headed back to Pike Place Market because here in the land locked states there really are not very many markets and if there is one it is a Farmer’s Market and nothing like this.  It was really quite amazing to see so much fresh fish, flowers, vegetables, and pastries.  However, my single favorite had to be the Pike Place Nuts store.  We bought cinnamon roasted almonds and they were one of the best things I have had in a long time.  So in Seattle, I had the best almonds and best breakfast burrito I have ever had.  Pretty awesome I would say, in fact I am working on looking the Pike Place Nut store up and seeing if they ship anywhere else in the country.

~ Jen and I at the Space Needle

~ More shots of the Space Needle, gives an idea of the fog conditions

~ Pike Place Market Rear and Front Entrance

~ Inside Pike Place Market            ~ Pioneer Square Station

After taking photos by the space needle and around the market we decided to head back to Pioneer Square and take the Underground Tour.  I read on Seattle’s visitor site that it was one of the top 10 things to do while in the city.  The line of people there was pretty crazy for a Monday and I was equally surprised by the tact and thoughtfulness of the tour.  They split us up into three or four groups of manageable sizes and actually taught us quite a little bit about the history of the city.  For example, due to a massive fire in Seattle and the sewage problems they raised the street a full level and most of the buildings in the area that one sees are actually the second level of the original building.  It was a great tour and I highly recommend it to anyone.  The $15 that we paid was totally worth it and I am sure that the other 250,000+ people that go on it every year really could not be wrong either.  I took some photographs to show you guys, but it really does not do it justice without the tour guide explaining everything.  Pretty neat little piece of very old history that we got to experience.

~Bar at the beginning of the tour   ~Jen under Pioneer Square

~ Skylight                                     ~Passageway around businesses

I just wanted to talk about the skylight for a minute because it was really quite impressive.  As one can see from the photographs it is starting to get covered with dirt and cement and what not and yet a ton of light still comes through there.  This picture was taken with the lights under ground in the tunnels shut off.  It is amazing how something that is almost 100 years old still can work so well.  One can picture how well it worked back when it was first installed so that people could still shop on the first floors of those shops.  They were used instead of electricity to light the tunnels because it was before that was as readily available and it must have worked like a charm.  He said they used to have them about every six to ten feet, but now the majority of them are filled in and this one is one of the few still functioning.  Pretty ingenious if I do say so myself.

~Underground Tour Conclusion      ~ Seattle Waterfront in the Afternoon

After the tour, we had just a short time left before we had to be to the Amtrak Station to head to Vancouver.  We decided to take a stroll down to the Seattle Seahawks Stadium and Safeco Field where the Mariners play.  I always love sports stadiums and just wanted a picture of them.  Luckily Jen was being a good sport and walked all the way down there with me.  It was a good little walk, but it was totally worth it because i was able to get some great shots of the skyline of Seattle as well as a few of the stadium.  It was a wonderful trip to Seattle and a fast one at that, but we got to cross off Washington on my list and maybe someday we will be back through on our way back to Vancouver.

~ Space Needle and skyline            ~Safeco Field

~ Seattle Skyline

~ Seattle Waterfront from the edge of the Pier

~Shredded Pork from How to Cook Everything

This recipe was tried quite awhile ago and I never got around to posting it, but I thought on this snow filled morning here in OKC it might be a good choice.  This was really an excellent way to prepare pork.  I was instantly surprised at the amount of flavor that was in each bite without any sauce included what so ever.  The choice of meat was a boneless pork shoulder and while that does not sound good, it is very tender and easy to cook.  The entire process takes about an hour or so after all the ingredients are prepared and it takes very little supervision.  This is the perfect choice for the Mexican food dinner you are looking to prepare.  I did not shred the meat per say as you can tell by the photo, but that was because it was so tender I thought it would be better served as cubes of pork.  This would fit nicely in tacos or carnitas.  For taste I would have to give this one a 10/10 and for preparation I would give it a 9/10 if one wants to leave it as cubes and probably an 8/10 if one tries to shred it.  The shredding takes more time and is actually harder than I anticipated, hence the cubes.  If anyone is interested in this recipe, please do not hesitate to let me know.  Have a great week!!

~French Dip Sandwich Beef from Betty Crocker Cooking Basics

When my parents visited in late December and early January, I really wanted to cook something for them while they were here.  I really was not sure what to make because my mom has issues with things with too much fat in it and I sure did not want to make a bad first impression with my cooking.  So I pulled out my most trusted cookbook and decided on the French Dip Sandwiches.  It was an excellent choice.  The french dip sandwiches that resulted would beat Arby’s sandwiches in a taste test any day of the week.  My homemade au jus was unbeatable.  Both my mom and dad stated that it was good and if anyone would tell me that something was not good it would be them.  The recipe took a ton of patience though and required a large amount of time to sit and wait for the meat to cook properly.  I have to post this recipe below because it is really something that you MUST try on a Sunday or holiday.  Trust me your family will love you for it.  The above picture was of the finished finely cooked beef before it was cut and placed on the sandwich bread.  For taste I would have to give this one a 10/10 and for preparation I would give it a 7/10 because of the long wait times and not really the complexity.  Additionally, it should be mentioned that if you are going to save the beef for a later date the au jus does not save well in the fridge because the fat all settles at the top so be aware of that situation.  It may be a better idea to try the freezer possibly or not save any in the first place.

Ingredients:  1 boneless beef chuck roast (3 lbs.), 1 clove garlic, 1 can (14 oz.) beef broth, 1.5 cups water, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, 1 dried bay leaf, 3 or 4 peppercorns, 2 loaves of French bread.

Recipe:  1)  Heat the oven to 325 F.  Place the beef in an ovenproof 4 quart dutch oven.  2)  Peel and finely chop the garlic.  In a medium bowl, mix garlic and remaining ingredients except bread (duh : )).  Pour the garlic mixture over beef.  3)  Cover Dutch Oven with lid; bake 2 to 3 hours or until beef is very tender.  4)  Carefully remove Dutch oven from the oven.  Remove beef from Dutch oven and place on cutting board.  Cover with foil to keep warm.  Skim any fat from the surface of the cooking juices, using a spoon.  Remove the bay leaf and peppercorns.  Cut beef, across the grain, into thin slices.  Heat cooking juices to boiling.  Spoon juices from Dutch oven into individual bowls for dipping.  5)  Cut each loaf of bread into 5 pieces, each about 4 inches long; cut bread pieces horizontally in half.  Fill bread with beef.  Serve sandwiches with broth for dipping.

~ Taken from Google Images

Despite only getting a 16 on my MCAT (which is terrible by the way, 45 is a perfect score) and leaving Creighton with only a 3.2 GPA I still some how managed to make it through the basic science portion of medical school.  How did I get into medical school you are asking yourself, well that is a long and hard fought story.  I actually applied to a few schools including Creighton Medical Center and the University of Nebraska Medical Center and promptly I am certain my application was thrown in the garbage.  Well, I was very scared that I was going to either have to take the dreaded MCAT again or just give up on my dream of becoming a medical doctor.  Then a doctor that my mom works with suggested that I look into a Caribbean medical school because they were more likely to give a guy a chance because they are run more as a business than as a university.  He was right in so many different ways, but that is for a different post.  He told me that the pace in these schools in the Caribbean was very grueling and that it would not be easy, but that it was an option.  So I looked into a few of them and MUA really caught my eye.  The reason:  they had residents at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  This was the ultimate goal anyway so why not give it a try.

~University of Nebraska Medical Center taken from Google Images

~Creighton University Medical Center from Google Images
So I applied to MUA.  They got back to me within the next 48 hours requesting an interview.  I was nervous as heck and was almost shaking in anticipation for my interview.  I did the interview in the Creighton University library in one of the quiet rooms.  I felt very comfortable and about one week later I received a packet in the mail stating that I was accepted and could start in the September semester.  Just to be certain that I was going to like the school I flew down to Nevis in March to check the place out to ensure that I knew what I was getting into.  Upon arrival to the island, I was really not so sure about the place.  The school looked very run down and primitive, but did I really have a choice?  16 on the MCAT sort of limits the choices.  I decided I would give it a shot and man am I glad that I did.

My roommate ended up being one of the best people I have met in my whole life.  If only he lived a bit closer these days, I am certain we would hang out almost every day.  He is a great friend and we get along so well it was amazing, even if he was a Penn State fan.  The food was tough to get used to and the class slowly dwindled down to about 55 by the time we were in Med 5, but I made it through all the way without one failure although Biochemistry gave me a heck of a challenge.  I made a ton of other really good friends along the way as well.  Far too many to list here, but the most important thing that came out of Nevis was a cute, curly, haired Canadian that would later become my wife.

I did end up failing the exit exam and it was probably a good thing that I did.  It gave me a chance to study more for the Step 1.  I went back to Nevis and passed that exam the second try and proceeded to get married, move to Oklahoma City, and then take on the task of studying for the Step 1 exam.  I took the exam on December 30th, 2009 and I will never forget that exam and how the time flew by.  It was excruciating waiting for that score, but man was it a great day when I finally got it and realized that I had passed.  It was such a great feeling to know that all the sacrifices were worth it and that I was actually moving toward becoming a physician.

Now I know the next question you are thinking, well what did you score?  Well, most people will never publish their scores on the internet or even maybe tell their friends, but I am not ashamed of mine nor do I feel like it is something to gloat about.  But I scored a 188, passing was 185, but in 2010 it has now changed to 188.  Therefore, I still would have passed, but it would have been very close.  I tell you my score because I am proud that I beat the odds of the foreign medical student and passed the exam on the first try.  Additionally, I beat many other odds that most medical students really do not have to deal with.  I passed it on the first try after going to a foreign medical school, with mostly foreign professors, with an accelerated curriculum, in a foreign country that continually lost power and water service, where a hurricane and an earthquake hit while we were there, got married 4 months before the Step, moved to Oklahoma City 4 months before the Step, worked on an MBA in Healthcare Administration while studying through Med 3, 4, and 5 as well as the Step exam, and worked for two months during my preparation for the Step exam.  When I lay all that out, I am pretty darn excited that I was able to pass the first attempt and will now move onto clinical medicine.  I am pretty sure if I can make it through all of that and still pass the licensing exam, I can be one heck of a doctor.

~ Random Picture of the Old Red Museum in Dallas, Texas

This is a post for Kristy, the White Turkey Chili recipe from The Nebraska Cookbook.  I thought I would share this because it is something really easy to make, is tasty, and was asked for.  I hope more of you will give it a try and please do not be shy asking for other recipes of interest or sharing in your own experiences with the recipes that I have posted.

Ingredients:  1 tbsp. oil (vegetable oil works well), 1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup chopped celery, 4 cups chopped and cooked turkey, 2 cans (15.5 oz. each) great Northern beans (drained), 2 cans (11 oz. each) white shoepeg corn, 1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles, 4 cups chicken broth, 1 tsp. ground cumin.

Recipe:  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and celery, and saute until onion is translucent.  Place all ingredients in a large saucepan (I used a Dutch Oven).  Stir well.  Cover and cook about 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.

*One could also use a crock pot by placing all ingredients in it and cooking on low for approximately 6-8 hours.*

~ Tuna Noodle Casserole from A Man, A Can, A Microwave

This was actually a really good recipe fresh and a horrible recipe re-heated.  However, if you do not like mushrooms I would have to caution against this one because Jen does not like mushrooms and this one was the first thing that I was able to eat and she was not.  She is not a big fan of mushrooms or raisins.  Therefore, if I ever choose to make that recipe again I will probably utilize cream of celery instead of cream of mushroom.  The cream of mushroom does give it great flavor, but it is very strong so beware.  Cream of chicken would also work nicely, but I am not sure of the taste that would be present with tuna and cream of chicken.  If anyone gives that a try make sure and let me know via email or a comment on my blog what it tasted like.  For ease of preparation I would have to give it a 9/10 and for taste initially an 8/10.  However, I DO NOT recommend keeping any of it for a later date because out of the microwave the next day it is more like a 5/10 and that is probably being generous.  You know it is bad news out of the microwave when even Maddy and Suh will not touch it.

*Be sure to let me know of any recipes that you may want me to post*

~I think I forgot one that Kristy asked for earlier in the mad shuffle of December so if I did please remind me Kristy, Thanks!