Greenhouse BONANZA!! ORCHIDS GALORE!! Longwood Gardens provides a warm escape from the cold winter in Pennsylvania

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Sometimes amidst all the exams and deadlines, one of the most important things you have to do is to be WELL and to take care of yourself. I'd like to dedicate this post to wellness and being at balance with yourself and everything around you because I know myself that I haven't been doing a phenomenal job in that aspect. In fact, oftentimes I'll forget to eat and sleep much when exams are coming up close. It's not really that I don't want to, but my brain's rewired to just forego that because of the amount of sheer stress I get when I'm anxious about not knowing enough for the exams. Regardless of all that though, I'll still admit that going into exams I oftentimes do not know everything I should know. My mentor once related it to being like, "Carrying a backpack that is overflowing and overloaded across a finish line, just to do it again and again."

So how do students de-stress and get rid of the anxiety? How do we avoid the burnout of doing it over and over again with more and more knowledge being piled on top of us? If you're expecting an answer to this, I don't think you've read my first paragraph, because clearly I'm still struggling to balance myself and am still learning how to live this adult life. I won't lie though, I have a major advantage.

She helps me through it all. This is my goober. We get along really well because we're both goobers ; ) and I love her so much.

David Blaine ain't got nothin' on this.

Day in and day out she works hard to take care of patients at the hospital and then comes home to the stressed out and anxious mess that is me sitting on my computer, furiously going through notes like a maniac. She doesn't panic though. She stays calm, like she always is, and does little things around the house or brings me up some boba she grabs on the way home from work, because she believes and is confident that I'll pull through all of this. I'm glad she believes that, because.. although I sometimes hate to admit it, she's often right about a great deal of things, and I know she's right for believing in me, because I will, and DO pull through. Vice-versa, I believe she is one of the toughest and strongest people in this world, and I know she's absolutely brilliant in whatever she puts her mind to.

This week we went to visit Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. This trip was amazing. It was one of the most stress-free times I've had for a while now, and I really REALLY needed this breather. The past module (Neuro-Psych) was a long and tedious affair and this trip was a terrific way to remedy the buildup of tension that's been happening for the past six weeks. Oh, and I forgot to mention that my licensing examination is coming up in June, so just a tinge of anxiety there.

02/20/18--07:00:00-- Current Stress level: 83
This is how I felt when I woke up before the day had began to unfold.

However.... one's perspective can change really quick depending on the frame of mind they're in.

One of the greatest feelings is exploring a new place and enjoying it's beauty with the one you love.

Adventuring makes you excited and that feeling, when shared with someone, will last as a beautiful memory that you two will share forever.

Photographs, of course, will immortalize that memory.

My only hope is that one day we'll be able to look back at this post and reminisce on the moments of happiness that we felt together in this magical garden and celebrate the love that we were both able to be lucky enough to share in this life.

From the ooo's and the ahh's of seeing this the vibrant colors and patterns.... to the sniffing of the fragrant odors of flowers all around us, I want to be able to remember it all.*

As human brains age, our neurons naturally degenerate and we have problems remembering things that happened in the past and we can get forgetful. This is normal. This is just aging. Not Alzheimer's. This is definitely something the medical field needs to explore further so we can advance ourselves. For those who ARE interested, UCI (University of California, Irvine) just recently had some breakthrough research, and were able to reverse the aging neurons to allow them to form new memories again. Perhaps this could be an avenue for the future of Neurology, but for now, I'm more than content sharing my memories and immortalizing them with this pretty lady.

I'll never forget how stunning she looks here.

This is called a "Goldfish Plant". Definitely a favorite. It's apparently a good houseplant too FYI!

What a HUGE lily!

The very first of many nectarine blossoms!

The ancient "Darwin" Orchid, Angraecum sesquipedale, which gave Darwin his theory about the feeding habits of a special species of moth and led to its discovery.

A BLACK ORCHID!!

I'd love to be able to make a bonsai like this one day. Check out that solitary pomegranate.

"TOUCH A ROOT"

BALLS OF ORCHIDS!!

More flowers and scenes from the garden!

You can't completely be stress-free, and stress can sometimes even make us stronger. However, you can markedly reduce your stress by taking some time to have some fun with someone you love.
02/20/18--014:00:00-- Current Stress level: 28

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Well that about does it! Stored into the memory vault! And.. hopefully with Blockchain, this will never be altered/deleted.

Thanks for stopping by and reading!! And... as always...
If you like the content please UPVOTE, FOLLOW, AND RESTEEM!!

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Regards,
O.