ISTJ

The other day, I received a large envelope from Pitt Med.  I was expecting information on orientation and the white coat ceremony, but all it contained was a Meyers-Briggs test that we had to complete before arriving at orientation.

The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is essentially a personality test that measures how you prefer to interact with the world and make decisions.  There are 4 dichotomies represented by 8 letters, and your "type" consists of one letter from each dichotomy.  The 4 dichotomies are:

1 - Extroversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)
2 - Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)
3 - Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)
4 - Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)

I took the self test, which consisted of 93 questions asking to choose between two opposing scenarios or words.  For example, I had to choose between the words "possibilities" and "certainties," or choosing between going by a set schedule or just going with the flow.  Each preference is correlated with a certain letter above.

My score is ISTJ, which is apparently one of the most common scores (10-14% of the population according to Wikipedia).  This is the little blurb associated with my score in the test booklet:

Quiet, serious, earn success by thoroughness and dependability.  Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible.  Decide logically what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of distractions.  Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized--their work, their home [HA!], their life.  Value traditions and loyalty.

Basically dead on except for that little part about having an organized home.  My room at home is pretty messy (ok, extremely messy) but in my defense, I know where EVERYTHING is.  So maybe that part isn't complete false?  I think my family would beg to differ.  ;-)

I always find myself wanting to learn more (sometimes I just get lost in Wikipedia learning about random things!) so while researching my score, I found this website.  ISTJ is the "duty fulfiller."  Here are some lines from the site that I think especially pertain to me:

As an ISTJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion.  Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things rationally and logically.

Organized and methodical in their approach, they can generally succeed at any task which they undertake

ISTJs have tremendous respect for facts.  They hold a tremendous store of facts within themselves, which they have gathered through their Sensing preference.

ISTJs usually have a great sense of space and function, and artistic appreciation.

ISTJs tend to believe in laws and traditions, and expect the same from others.  They're not comfortable with breaking laws or going against the rules.

The ISTJ is extremely dependable on following through with things which he or she has promised.  For this reason, they sometimes get more and more work piled on top of them.  Because the ISTJ has such a strong sense of duty, they may have a difficult time saying "no" when they are given more work than they can reasonably handle.

I could go on with more descriptions I found, but I'm thinking that others might not share my "tremendous respect for facts."  If you've never taken a Meyers-Briggs personality test before, take it now!  I'm pretty amazed at how accurate this was.  There are some free MBTI-type tests here and here.  They're not official tests and I'm not sure how accurate the results are, but it can't hurt to try!

I'm officially back in Pittsburgh, and it is HOT.  The place we're living doesn't have air conditioning, but with 2 ceiling fans and 2 other fans, it's fairly comfortable.  Time to start unpacking and go through orientation!

Door decs and triangles

In addition to music, medicine, and measuring cups (a.k.a. cooking), I also really like to craft.  Too bad I couldn't think of a crafting word that starts with "m" to add to the alliteration of my blog title, but then the title would be obscenely long!  Anyway, since I'm such a procrastinator, I rarely pursue craft projects unless I have a deadline like making a blanket or a scrapbook for a friend or family member.

For the next month, I will be a residence life counselor for a summer program for high school students interested in a career in health care.  I'll be living in a dorm with the students, so no kitchen for me, but I have recipes and pictures of some of the food I've made so far this summer that I'll post instead.

I am super excited for the program because I participated in a similar program when I was in high school, and it was one of the best summers of my life.  I'm looking forward to being on the other side of the program as a staff member and acting as a mentor to the students.  I'll also be attending my very first baseball game (Pirates), but I'm not sure yet if I should be excited or not about that...

Back to the crafting.  Before arriving at the dorm, we had to create door signs for each of the students on our floor.  I decided to do CUPCAKES!  Pink, of course, because my floor is all girls.  I do not take credit for the design of the cupcakes, but I can't find the website where I found the pattern.  I added the pink glitter and it looks like sugar!

...and then I made 14 more

Another part of the preparation for the program is to make the "Personal Mosaic" triangle.  It's mainly an exercise for the students, but we have to make our own triangles as well.  Everyone will get together and lay out their triangles on the floor, forming one giant mosaic by matching something in one triangle with something in an adjacent triangle.  The whole thing ends up being pretty impressive with ~120 individual mosaics.  I'll be sure to post a picture of the completed mosaic!  Each individual mosaic is split into 4 smaller triangles:

• Top triangle: "Where do you come from?"
• Center triangle: "Who are you?"
• Left triangle: "What are your affiliations, causes, aspirations, etc.?"
• Right triangle: "What inspires you?"

I dug up my triangle from when I did my program in 2007

JUST LOOK at baby Ismet!!!  He was about 6 months old when I did PGSS

And here is my triangle for 2012!  I just realized I used the same picture of a cello in pretty much the same spot.  I've obviously changed so much in 5 years...

The quote around the perimeter of the right triangle: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover."  ~ Mark Twain

Heading back to Pittsburgh tomorrow for a great month!

Italian dinner

Yesterday, I made dinner for Father's Day. On the menu:
Appetizer: Avocado bruschetta and kalamata olive bruschetta on toasted French baguette.
Main course: Lean turkey meatballs, portabella mushrooms, and yellow squash with homemade marinara sauce over whole wheat pasta and sauteed green beans.
My mom supplied the dessert: Raspberry, lemon, and pineapple passionfruit sorbet.

I recently stumbled across a food blog run by two 3rd year medical students called Braised Anatomy. Both the bruschetta and marinara sauce came from this blog, but I'll reproduce the recipes here with my minor alterations. Definitely check out their blog for more great recipes!

Bruschetta [Adapted from Braised Anatomy]

Avocado bruschetta and kalamata olive bruschetta

I was only making dinner for 3 people, so I had to reduce the original recipe.  We also didn't have mint, which was called for in the original.  The bruschettas are exactly the same except for the avocado or olive option.  A double of this recipe (1 of each kind of bruschetta) is enough for 3 people to have 4 pieces of bread + bruschetta each.

• 1/2 avocado, diced OR 1 cup kalamata olives, diced
• 1 cup plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Mix it all together and let it sit in the fridge for a while so everything soaks up the flavors.  Serve on toasted French baguette!

Marinara Sauce [Also adapted from Braised Anatomy]

Simple marinara sauce

This sauce is extremely simple and so delicious!  Definitely going to be using this from now on instead of stuff from a jar or just plain diced tomatoes.

• 4, 14.5-oz cans of diced tomatoes with no salt added
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 5-7 cloves of garlic, minced (we love garlic!!)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ~1/4 cup minced basil
• palmful of dried oregano
• pepper to taste

In a dutch oven or saucepan, heat the oil and saute the garlic on medium-high heat.  Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and bring to a boil.  Then reduce the heat to low or warm and simmer for 30+ minutes (I think we had it simmering for about 45 minutes).  Freeze any excess for later use!

Lean Turkey Meatballs

Raw meatballs ready to be browned!

These are my own recipe, and I usually just eyeball the spices and ingredients depending on what I have and who I'm cooking for.  Since I was cooking for my parents, I left out the crushed red pepper flakes that I usually add, but I really didn't miss them!  These meatballs are super healthy (much leaner than beef) and come out juicy and flavorful despite lack of fat.

• 21-oz package of the leanest possible ground turkey breast (99% fat free)
• 1 large egg
• 1 slice of bread (I used FiberOne 100% whole wheat bread, but use whatever you have on hand)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• splash of skim milk
• about a palmful of dried oregano, a palmful of fresh basil, several grates of black peppercorn, and a pinch of salt - vary these amounts or add other spices depending on your taste!

Crumble the bread and mix everything together.  If it is too sticky (probably will be), add some milk.  This recipe will make exactly 12 meatballs if you use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure them.  Bring a pan with olive oil to medium heat.  The minuscule fat content of the meatballs causes them to annoyingly stick to a stainless steel pan, so if you're not using a non-stick pan, use a lot of oil or be prepared to scrape turkey bits off the bottom.  Once the meatballs are browned on all sides, add the marinara sauce and whatever veggies you want - we did mushrooms and yellow squash.  Cover and simmer on low or warm until the meatballs are cooked (start making your pasta!).

Top it all off with some grated parmesan cheese!  My favorite!

Hope that was a good first post, here's to many more!