Currently being unemployed, I've had a lot of time to organize, sit, plan, dream, hope, and become extremely bored with my current situation. Of course it's extremely nice to not have the pressure of school bearing down on me anymore, however this lack of schedule has begun to get old!
It's been 4.5 weeks since I took boards and 4 full weeks since I found out I passed them! Yippee! No more studying for this girl! Of course that lasted about a week and then I realized I had fully run out of things to keep me occupied while everyone else is working, going to school, or generally progressing on in their lives while I'm stuck playing the waiting game.
Waiting on interviews, waiting on employment packets, waiting on California to process paperwork, waiting to take the law exam, waiting, waiting, waiting. And all the while being profoundly annoyed at not having anything productive to do. Of course I did the obligatory cleaning and purging of old, unnecessary school supplies. I organized my closet, my bookshelves, I've read books, done projects on Shutterfly, made food, hung out with anyone who has a minute of time to spare, and watched countless hours of Netflix. All the while having this insatiable desire to start my life again.
I feel as if I'm stuck in this limbo of time. Not a student anymore, but also not a full working grown-up. I'm somewhere in-between. Not a kid and yet not a contributing member of society either. I have many classmates who are going through the same thing, which is comforting and would be much nicer if we could be going through it together, but alas we are states apart joined only by text messages as to who is the most tired of sitting on their bum.
Regardless of this limbo, and rant that I've just had, I am truly trying to enjoy the down time. Logically speaking, this is the last chance I'll ever have to be truly On My Own, with no one to answer to, no school, no work, nothing. Last summer vacation I'll ever have. And with that comes a finality. A sadness. A sense of awe and wonderment, directed at leaving childhood completely behind. It's a strange feeling, one that isn't truly expressible. I'm trying to read as much as I can. Watch as much TV as I can handle and just truly be. Because I know, in a couple weeks, it will all be over. Forever.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Thursday, September 25, 2014
SI problem? No way.....
Ok so I usually don't do posts that don't include pictures, but today is just a picture free post day. I have a patient who I did an eval on 2 days ago. He had everything wrong, any movement hurt and I couldn't really get a handle on what was truly going on. I took 2 hours to do the eval. I pushed, prodded, pulled, pushed some more and finally gave up and did the ultrasound machine. By the end I had him feeling better, but I still had no idea what had worked. He cancelled his appointment yesterday and I was over the moon, because I truly wasn't sure what I was going to do when he came back in. I was completely dreading it and since I was overwhelmed I prayed about it for about 2 seconds last night knowing he would be in today.
He came in today, walking better than he had 2 days ago, using only a cane for support, and telling me that he was better but wasn't sure what had changed exactly. I, again, was clueless. But I started him off with a couple easy exercises while I pulled a game plan together and worked with another patient for a few minutes before handing that off to the PTA. I started asking questions of this man, and he tried his best to explain what he was feeling. Still feeling clueless I started another exam of his back and pelvis.
Now, I need to stop and explain that though SI problems seem to be common, in the PT world they are the exception not the rule. However, as I kept pushing and prodding this patient and getting answers to the questions I was asking was leading me closer and closer to SI which I never think of first!
After an instability test with an SI belt, and some help from my CI we determined that posterior rotation of his left innominate was limited and that was causing pain. So I treated that, which greatly improved his pain! The man hugged me with tears in his eyes thanking me for helping him.
I was over the moon! Still am actually! I'm so happy that I figured something out, that I had no idea what it could be the other day, relieved that I was on the right track with my clinical reasoning, and praising God for his answer to my hurried plea for guidance. It was just another reminder how much God cares for even our small, insignificant worries and doubts. And it helped confirm again for me that I am in this profession for the right reasons and God did lead me here for a reason!
He came in today, walking better than he had 2 days ago, using only a cane for support, and telling me that he was better but wasn't sure what had changed exactly. I, again, was clueless. But I started him off with a couple easy exercises while I pulled a game plan together and worked with another patient for a few minutes before handing that off to the PTA. I started asking questions of this man, and he tried his best to explain what he was feeling. Still feeling clueless I started another exam of his back and pelvis.
Now, I need to stop and explain that though SI problems seem to be common, in the PT world they are the exception not the rule. However, as I kept pushing and prodding this patient and getting answers to the questions I was asking was leading me closer and closer to SI which I never think of first!
After an instability test with an SI belt, and some help from my CI we determined that posterior rotation of his left innominate was limited and that was causing pain. So I treated that, which greatly improved his pain! The man hugged me with tears in his eyes thanking me for helping him.
I was over the moon! Still am actually! I'm so happy that I figured something out, that I had no idea what it could be the other day, relieved that I was on the right track with my clinical reasoning, and praising God for his answer to my hurried plea for guidance. It was just another reminder how much God cares for even our small, insignificant worries and doubts. And it helped confirm again for me that I am in this profession for the right reasons and God did lead me here for a reason!
Sunday, September 7, 2014
A weekend of sunshine
Days spent with my K girl are the most sunshiny and exhausting of them all! She is a precious little thing, but man does she have energy! And her little brother L man is just as fun! I was privileged to spend the weekend with K and her family this past weekend. We went to the fair Friday, the park and slip-n-slide Saturday, and rode bikes, played superheroes, built train tracks, and jumped on the trampoline Sunday. Basically it was go, go, go! Regardless it was tons of fun! Krista and I even snuck in brunch on Sunday without the kids. Again I say, it was a fantastic weekend!
Tennessee Valley State Fair
Trampoline time!
Caught a butterfly at the park
Rode bikes in the grass
K is just learning to ride a two-wheeler!
Superheroes to the rescue!
Gorgeous sunset after such a fun weekend!
Thursday, September 4, 2014
That laboring day weekend
After a crazy week, and a Friday morning where I felt like my brain had run back to California or maybe even Alaska, I was desperately waiting for 5 o'clock to arrive. The original plan was to head towards Knoxville to my cousins house for the night, but as plans often do they changed. So I rolled on down the road to Candler where my mom was home alone for the night and Saturday. Surprise! I'm home!
Thankfully my family is getting used to me just dropping in and no one seems to mind. Mom had plans to eat at my aunts house after church so I tagged along and got to see several family members which was very nice. After that we headed to downtown Hendersonville where the Apple Festival was in full swing.
This festival happens every year, and I've only made it there once when I was about 3. So I was ready to see what all the fuss was about again. They have tons of apple products and other farmers market type stuff: apple butter, apple bread, apple cider, all kinds of apples, maple cotton candy(my favorite!), jewelry, signs, free giveaways, a band, and lots more. We had a good time walking through the maze of people and just looking at the different booths.
I stayed home Saturday night and left early Sunday morning for Calhoun, GA. Where I spent the rest of my long weekend with LivLeigh. We went out on a houseboat, road jet skis, got caught in a storm, stayed up talking, planned all sort of dream trips, went into downtown Chatt, got amazing donuts, did a senior photo shoot, and all around had a great time.
Long weekends continue to be my favorites! Tuesday morning dawned too early and I was still tired from the week before and excitement of the weekend, but it was so worth it! Can't wait till the next "break".
Thankfully my family is getting used to me just dropping in and no one seems to mind. Mom had plans to eat at my aunts house after church so I tagged along and got to see several family members which was very nice. After that we headed to downtown Hendersonville where the Apple Festival was in full swing.
This festival happens every year, and I've only made it there once when I was about 3. So I was ready to see what all the fuss was about again. They have tons of apple products and other farmers market type stuff: apple butter, apple bread, apple cider, all kinds of apples, maple cotton candy(my favorite!), jewelry, signs, free giveaways, a band, and lots more. We had a good time walking through the maze of people and just looking at the different booths.
"Don't worry I'll pick my feet up out of the road"--Olivia
Long weekends continue to be my favorites! Tuesday morning dawned too early and I was still tired from the week before and excitement of the weekend, but it was so worth it! Can't wait till the next "break".
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Absence makes the heart grow fonder????
Checking out of the bloggosphere for awhile was definitely needed for this crazy girl. I have done so many things since the last post where I definitely took a short cut and pointed out another blog that had documented my amazing spring break trip. Well since that occurred I have done a few more fun races, a glow/color run and a half marathon. I passed my big Ortho IV exam that basically determines if I can do my clinicals for PT school. I went to Portland for 4 weeks and did a clinical there while exploring and seeing family. I went to Haiti with LLU on a mission trip. Spent a long weekend at Lake Lure. Began my first affiliation in Tennessee and tons more! Now its a continuation of life on the east coast for awhile which is what brings me to this post.
It's crazy how fun it is to have a life in the south and one in southern California! I'm in awe at how natural it has become to think of Loma Linda as home. The last three weeks have been a little bit of culture shock readapting to the southern drawls and verbage that is used in these here parts. Something that I never thought would happen! It's like the line from Sweet Home Alabama (the movie), "My life in California works, but then I come down here and this fits too."
And now for a brief catch up of life in random order:
Learning taping techniques
Mini color run
Katie's grad and my surprise weekend visit
Beach day with Liv and Tiff
DJ's highschool grad
Happy 24th bday to me!
Backstreet boys concert!
Paint fights are awesome!
Rock and Roll half marathon finishers
Portland exploring
Tacoma 4th of July
Lake weekend
Haiti
Visiting the roomie in Oregon
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Spring Break via Liv
Because of my crazy schedule as of late, I have been extremely lame and haven't been blogging like I probably should :) However, my bestie is very good at keeping up on her blog so I figured I'd share her link as a way to see what I did over spring break :) Be sure to go back several posts as we started our journey at the redwoods in Crescent City and made our way along coast highway 1.
The Life of Liv
The Life of Liv
Friday, January 31, 2014
The Lion King
The weekend after we began winter quarter, a group of my friends had tickets to go to The Lion King musical in downtown Hollywood at the Pantages Theater. And what a night we had!
The day dawned bright and sunny with church at ReLive with Hannah, and Casey. Then lunch followed and shortly thereafter I met up with Twyla, Kelsey, and D'Hahn to go to another classmates house for a little BBQ get together. We could only stay for about an hour because we needed to get ready for the night out, but it was fun nonetheless.
I met Olivia and Casey at home, changed, and we hit the road. Liv knew of a gourmet grilled cheese place in downtown LA and we hit that up before moving onto gelato and Starbucks. We were a little over jealous and got to the theater ahead of when they would let us take our seats but we had fun taking pictures and just talking until they let us in.
Twyla, Melissa, D'Hahn, Randy, Jo, T, and Kelsey joined us soon after and the show began. Immediately I was completely caught up in the music, the insane costumes, and graceful dancers! I'm in LOVE with musical theater! I can't wait to see a play on Broadway, one day it's gonna happen! It might need to be said that The Lion King was my favorite movie for a year or two when I was 4 and 5 so it's very near and dear to my heart. Well let me tell you, the play went above and beyond my wildest expectations! The story was as I remembered it from the movie, but the songs and insane engineering of the costumes made it even better than I imagined it would be!
At this point the evening ended with a drive home and bed, but oh man was it a night! I highly recommend plays to anyone and everyone! This one was especially fun since it was a Disney play, but I think Wicked might still be top in my book.
The day dawned bright and sunny with church at ReLive with Hannah, and Casey. Then lunch followed and shortly thereafter I met up with Twyla, Kelsey, and D'Hahn to go to another classmates house for a little BBQ get together. We could only stay for about an hour because we needed to get ready for the night out, but it was fun nonetheless.
I met Olivia and Casey at home, changed, and we hit the road. Liv knew of a gourmet grilled cheese place in downtown LA and we hit that up before moving onto gelato and Starbucks. We were a little over jealous and got to the theater ahead of when they would let us take our seats but we had fun taking pictures and just talking until they let us in.
Twyla, Melissa, D'Hahn, Randy, Jo, T, and Kelsey joined us soon after and the show began. Immediately I was completely caught up in the music, the insane costumes, and graceful dancers! I'm in LOVE with musical theater! I can't wait to see a play on Broadway, one day it's gonna happen! It might need to be said that The Lion King was my favorite movie for a year or two when I was 4 and 5 so it's very near and dear to my heart. Well let me tell you, the play went above and beyond my wildest expectations! The story was as I remembered it from the movie, but the songs and insane engineering of the costumes made it even better than I imagined it would be!
At this point the evening ended with a drive home and bed, but oh man was it a night! I highly recommend plays to anyone and everyone! This one was especially fun since it was a Disney play, but I think Wicked might still be top in my book.
LA at night, slightly ghetto area. But still way fun!
Gelato!
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