Next Year's Board - Who's in?

Hey all!

Who wants to be involved on the MSA board next year? We want to get the replacements chosen by January, so if there is something you want to be involved in, let us know!

Next year the blogger spot is open, so let me know if you're interested! We'll be off doing residency somewhere...

Here are the positions on the board. I am not sure which are already filled for next year, so contact Michelle Schmidt, Natalie DeMill, or Melinda Frandsen to find out (email: medicalspousesutah@gmail.com)

Board Positions:

Fundraising, Publicity/Membership, 4th Year Rep, 3rd Year Rep, 2nd Year Rep, Social Events, Legislation, Health Promotions, Festival of Trees, Service, Play Group, Book/Cooking Club, Blog, and Doctor of the Year.

Being on the board is a lot of fun, especially if you are looking for extra involvement during the med school years. Thanks everyone!

Book Club - December 15th

Hey! Here is a message from Lynnae Hymas about Book Club tomorrow night...

Just a reminder that Book Club is this Thursday, Dec. 15 at Erika Behunin's house at 7:00pm. We are reading the book Cutting for Stone.  Alex Greer will be the discussion leader.  It should be a great discussion.

Address and directions from Erika:
2712 E Hillsden Road (Hillsden is 5380 South)

 If you are heading from the North take I-215 south.  Get off 6200 South exit and turn Right (heading West) until you reach the first stop light and turn Right (now heading North) on Holladay Blvd.  Continue heading North on Holladay Blvd for a few miles.  You will pass a LDS Church and immediately after you will take a left (West - which is Hillsden Rd - 5380 south).  You will then come to a stop sign and veer left.  You will very quickly come to my driveway on your left (South).  My driveway is gravel and is shared with another house.  Continue to go straight and you will run into a gate.  I will leave the gate open and just drive all the way in. 

If you are heading from the South take I-215 East and take the 6200 South Exit.  Veer Left after the exit and go left at the stop light (heading West).  You will then come to another stop light and turn Right (now heading North) on Holladay Blvd.  Continue heading North on Holladay Blvd for a few miles.  You will pass a LDS Church and immediately after you will take a left (West - which is Hillsden Rd - 5380 south).  You will then come to a stop sign and veer left.  You will very quickly come to my driveway on your left (South).  My driveway is gravel and is shared with another house.  Continue to go straight and you will run into a gate.  I will leave the gate open and just drive all the way in.

We live in a guest house of a much larger home - we are the caretakers and the owners are at their second home.  You can knock on the "big house" front door. 
It can be confusing so if anybody has any questions - please call!  801-842-9747

Hope to see you all there!
Lynnae

Festival of Trees Decorating Day!

Hello! 

Festival of Trees decorating day is this Monday, November 28th.  We are planning to meet at the South Towne Expo center at 11am on Monday.  Please email or call me if you are able to help on Monday OR if you are interested in a free ticket to Festival of Trees later next week.

Thanks!!!
Kati
435-655-5514
kati.irwinwagner@gmail.com

Upcoming Playgroups!

We are having a playgroup on Monday the 28th at 10:30 at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. It is FREE! We will all meet at the front door for this super fun activity. Any questions, please give Michele Schmidt a call.

On Wednesday December 7 at 10:30 a.m., the Holladay Library is showing "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" (the cartoon one) so bring a pillow and blanket to watch it. I know it's only a week apart but I think December will start to get really busy for people so hopefully doing it at the beginning of the  month will work best for everyone.

See you there!

Festival of Trees Decorating

From Kati Wagner:

This is just a reminder that we are going to decorate the tree for Festival of Trees THIS Thursday at 6pm.  We are now going to be decorating at 1320 Wasatch Drive SLC  84108.

If you are coming from I-215, and traveling on Foothill, just turn right on 1300 and follow it up to the first stop sign.  The big red church on your right is where you need to be. :)

We hope to see you there on Thursday!

Thanks,
Kati
435-655-5514

Cooking Club - Nov 10th

Hi Everyone,

We've had a scheduling confict with the Festival of Trees activity and Cooking Club this month.  So we are moving Cooking Club to this Thursday, Nov. 10 at 8:00pm.  Sorry for the short notice but we hope you all can still make it (whether or not you have a dessert to bring).  Melissa Stringham is hostessing and her address and directions are listed below.  And, as always, please send me a copy of your recipe so we can share it with the group.  My email address is lynnae.hymas@gmail.com

Melissa's address is 3005 St Marys Circle.  If you head to the zoo take the first street on your right after the zoo parking lot (Crest View Dr) .  Follow Crest View all the way up the hill until you get to Vista View Dr.  Turn right on Vista View then a quick left onto St Marys Circle.  Her house is near the top of the circle.  Feel free to park in the driveway.  Her cell Is 8012309456 if anyone gets lost.

Happy Baking!
Lynnae Hymas

October - PLAY GROUP

Play group this month is on Thurs October 27th at the ever fabulous Gardner Village! They make that place sooo adorable for Halloween - your kids, and especially you, will love it.

If you have any questions about this activity, call Jocelyn Knott at 801-699-5451.

Ronald McDonald House - Service Project

Our first service project is coming up! Mandi Enz has provided this information:

What: Dinner at the Ronald McDonald House
When: October 11th, 4:30-7:00 pm
Where: The Ronald McDonald House, 935 East South Temple, Salt Lake City - meet in the parking lot

** We need around 10 people to come and help prepare food for the families at the Ronald McDonald House.  Everyone needs to be healthy, and no children are allowed.  Thanks!

Book Club/Cooking Club - Sept 29th (directions updated)

Lynnae has put together a book club/cooking club activity for next week. Everyone is invited!

Here is all the info:

We will be combining the first meeting so we can get everything organized for the year.  It will be on Thursday, September 29th at 7:00pm at my house (Lynnae).  My address is 3 Medical Plaza, which is across the street from the medical school (where we had our opening social) and in between the Medical Towers to the west.

Directions:

If you are coming from the south, head north on Foothill and turn right on Mario Cappechi Dr.  If you are coming from the west (downtown), turn left on Mario Cappechi Dr.   From there, you will go through a traffic light and under the pedestrian bridge.  Then take your next right (S. Medical Drive).  Take the second right (1900 E.) through the construction zone of the new Skaggs Hall Building.  Take your second right again into a parking lot below the Medical Towers (there is a little red sign next to the speed limit sign that says Townhouses). As you enter the parking lot, if you drove straight ahead, you would run into the back of my house, which is right in between the Medical Towers.  Park anywhere that isn't a reserved spot and enter in through a black gate into a courtyard of townhouses.  Mine is the first one on the left.

Cooking Club:  We will be picking the themes and hostesses for the school year.  The theme for this time is Appetizers.  Make your favorite appetizer and bring some to share with everyone.  Please email me a copy of your recipe (lynnae.hymas@gmail.com).  I will compile them into a pdf file and email them out to the Cooking Club so we can all have a copy.  My plan is to have each night be a "chapter" in a cook book.  At the end of the year, we'll send out a master pdf cookbook.  I will also put them into an actual cookbook on Blub.com that you can order a hard copy of if you would like at the end of the year.  We'll be taking pictures at the events to include in the cookbook.  Feel free to email me your own picture of your recipe if you'd like.  There is always plenty of food, so even if you don't have time to make something, still feel free to come!

Book Club:  We will be picking the books, the hostesses, and the discussion leaders for this school year.  Bring your ideas if there is a book you want to read.  Here is also a list of possible books to choose from:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak

The Ladies Auxiliary by Tovas Mirvis

My Name is Asher Lev by Chiam Potok

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

Still Alice  by Lisa Genova

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

The Constant Princess by Philipa Gregory

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I'm really excited about the Book Club and Cooking Club. It's such a great way to get to know other MSA members and to have fun together.  Hope to see you all there!

We Love MSA

Tonight's Opening Social was a huge success. So many people came - more new people than those who were already part of MSA and I met some very cool people.

On a personal note...I was just thinking about when I decided to join MSA. It was during my husband's second year - and we were still only dating,  but somehow I just knew that the following year we would be a married couple. Melinda Frandsen and I were chatting at her house one night, talking about the upcoming Festival of Trees, and she invited me to one of their tree decorating events. I think Konrad and I were engaged a week later and the next year, I headed up the Festival of Trees and it was a lot of fun. It took just one person to invite me to join, and I wanted to be involved somehow in the med school life that sometimes evades those who aren't in the classes. It has been such a fun experience! I live in Bountiful so it has been different for me than many in respect to the whole social ongoing aspect of MSA where most people live by each other, but I love the friends I have made and the things I have learned from talking with those who are supporting a spouse in medical school. You don't have to have children to enjoy MSA (I don't have any but will in January!), and you will get as much out of it as what you put in.

Thanks for coming! This is going to be a fun year :)

Zoo Playgroup

Jocelyn Knott is putting together a Zoo Playgroup for the month of September. It will be on the 27th from 10-Noon. Meet at the fountain and call her cell at 801-699-5451 with any questions.

It should be a lot of fun! It will be great bonding time for both moms and kids. See you then :)

PIG Opening Social and Barbecue

Tonight is the Pediatrics Interest Group (PIG) Barbecue ! I want to know all about it and get any pictures to post on our blog. :)

Opening Social!!!

Don't forget! Our Opening Social is September 13th.

5th Floor HSEB @ 6 pm with a yummy catered dinner.

Spouses are welcome and babysitting will be provided.

This is an excellent opportunity to start the year off right and get to know a bunch of new people. :)

See you then!

Thank You!

Thank you to all who helped come and recruit at the barbecue! We are looking forward to a great Opening Social NEXT WEEK. See you then!

MSA 2011 Opening Social

Medical Student Spouse Group

Are you married? 

If you answered yes, MSA is a perfect way to

help your spouse have a more positive experience

during medical school.

What we do:

-Provide new friends and support

-Interest groups (book club, cooking club, playgroup, etc.)

-Social events

-Health-related community service

-Promote good legislation for health care

MSA OPENING SOCIAL

ALL SPOUSES WELCOME!!!

Date: Tuesday September 13, 2011

Time: 6-8pm

Place: HSEB room 5100B

(5th floor in building where your spouse has classes)

Babysitters will be provided J

Questions?  Please call or email.

Natalie DeMill                        Melinda Frandsen

Co-President                            Co-President

801-244-6598                        801-814-7386

nataliedemill@gmail.com         melifrandsen@gmail.com

MSA email: medicalspousesutah@gmail.com

MSA blog: utahmedicalschoolalliance.blogspot.com

UMAA Convention

As members of MSA, getting involved in legislation and issues that affect our spouses and our futures as well. Here is an opportunity for any interested to attend this UMAA Convention on September 16th.

School of Medicine All School Picnic from 6:00-9:00

August 26th is the School of Medicine All School Picnic at Fairmont Park from 6-9 p.m. Don't forget to come and meet the new medical students and their spouses; or, if you are a first year, it will be a great opportunity to meet the people who you will be seeing a lot of the next four years. 

See you then!

MSA Transition Brunch 2011-2012

Our first official gathering as 2011-2012 was the Transition Brunch early in the summer! It was a lot of fun. It was in the backyard of Natalie DeMill's sister's home. Great company, yummy food, and cute decorations. Our theme this year is 'Hang In There' and we all got the cutest earrings as a little gift as a play on the theme.