Autophagy

I finally figured out why I didn't get into medical school until this year.

We are currently studying cell physiology. Organelles, membranes, endocytosis, cellular respiration - mostly information we covered in high school and college level biology. Last Wednesday, though, we were introduced to a new topic. After a clinical vignette on cholera (to get us ready for our Thanksgiving feasts, I'm sure), we covered the process of autophagy.

We learned that autophagy is the process by which worn out or dysfunctional proteins and organelles are delivered to and degraded by lysosomes. And this is cutting-edge information. In his deadpan Irish brogue, Dr. Thorburn told us that this was the first year autophagy had been taught as part of the med school curriculum at UC Denver, "so those of you who could have gone to school last year but decided to wait a year made a good choice. Look what you would have missed out on."

The first picture of autophagy ever taken. Published in the Journal of Cell Biology in 1962

Yep. There's the reason. My medical education would have been incomplete without a lecture on autophagy. Who knew?

It Feels Like Home

The title of this post (and this blog, for that matter), come from our wedding song of the same name. Original, I know. But it's truly amazing how all the places we settle into can become our "home"--our refuge, our happiness.

When we moved to Colorado, we knew we wanted to live in a house. We knew it couldn't be like the mansion we house-sat in before, but after spending so much time without neighbors bumping our walls or the smell of smoke wafting in on a summer's day, it seemed like a necessity, not a luxury, even on a medical student budget.

Bless Mississippi Ave. It's a huge street with lots and lots of sirens and traffic, and probably the only reason we can afford our stay in this 900 sq. feet of a house. My personal favorite amenity is the garage. (No picture available).

Tyler's favorite is the yard, which thankfully is long enough to somewhat block the noise from the chaos of traffic. He loves it so much he took TWO pictures, but I will just post one :). I think he loves the potential of this weed-covered place. He's already talking about raised bed garden plots with all his spare time:

Our lovely bedroom with its yellow hue--yes, that is Aurora sunshine sneaking in through the window:

The kitchen/dining area was our biggest challenge, but since adding some IKEA counter space, this area is totally functional, minus a dishwasher. We do, however, have two dish washers :)

Our living room, complete with happy red couches from my parents, brought all the way over the mountains by Tyler's family:

A glimpse of our office/workout space/library. You'll notice how preposterously large my masters diploma looks next to Tyler's masters diploma. I promise, I didn't pick the size.

Yes, it feels like home. We'll post a picture of the nursery when there is anything that resembles a nursery in that room. Right now it just feels like storage in there.