Holiday Recap

i love the holidays. thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but the month between thanksgiving and christmas is just the best. i went to charlotte for the week of christmas, so that was fun! bobby came home too, and we spent a lot of time at my dads house. we cooked some great food and drank some good wine!

on christmas eve, since i couldn't go to my home church, i went to elevation church, which is the church i go to when i'm in charlotte. its a great church, very contemporary, very young, and huge. they hold their christmas eve services in belk theater in downtown charlotte, which is such a gorgeous theater. it was an amazing service. the thing i love most about elevation church that st. marks doesn't really live up to is the worship. they have 4 worship leaders who have put out 2 CDs and they are simply amazing. the service started out with this really cool electric violin with lazers and then they lowered 2 drum sets from the ceiling while guys were playing! lots of lazers. it was really amazing to see that many people worshipping together. i definitely missed being at my church for christmas, but elevation is great.

i'm back in elon now getting things together for my first clinical rotation starting next week. between now and then, i am also going to atlanta for Passion 2010. its a conference for college students all about making Jesus famous for our generation. there are some amazing speakers and great worship. i'm super super excited because i've never gotten to see chris tomlin or david crowder band live, so that is going to be great. its not about any one person except Jesus. Passion is the brainchild of Louie Giglio, the most attractive 50 year old married man i've ever met. and i did get to meet him at a conference 2 years ago.i am very excited to go to atlanta and be part of this movement that hopefully will take over the generations!!

then starting next wednesday, i will be on clinical rotation in winston salem at an outpatient orthopedic clinic. i'm super excited, but also kind of apprehensive because its the first time i will have direct patient contact and have responsibility. i'm living in the basement apartment at my aunt and uncle's house. i'm psyched.

just in case you wanted to know....

GLENOHUMERAL

Inferior glide - Any elevation
Posterior glide - Flexion & internal rotation
Anterior glide - Extension & external rotation
Inferior glide - Abduction
Superior glide - Adduction

HUMEROULNAR

Anterior glide - Flexion
Posterior glide - Extension
Distraction - Pain, flexion & extension
Medial glide - Extension
Lateral glide - Flexion

HUMERORADIAL

Anterior glide - Flexion & supination
Posterior glide - Extension & pronation

DISTAL RADIOULNAR

Lateral/Radial glide - Ulnar deviation
Medial/Ulnar glide - Radial deviation
Posterior/Dorsal glide - Extension & supination
Anterior/Palmer glide - Flexion & supination

1ST CARPOMETACARPAL

Lateral/Radial glide - Extension & opposition
Medial/Ulnar glide - Flexion
Anterior/Palmer glide - Adduction
Posterior/Dorsal glide - Abduction

Exodus

at church, over the past 2 months or so, Bob has been preaching on each decade, starting back in the 20's and moving up to the 2000's. tonight was the last weekend of the series, and he preached about the 2000's. the whole series has been really interesting, and quite a history lesson as well. he has unpacked the themes and events of each decade and talking about the themes, relating them to biblical events and outcomes. its been really interesting, and its been neat to see the generations come together. and i've learned a lot. because they have had to set up quite a history lesson before Bob starts preaching, to set up the mood of his sermon. i've enjoyed it.

for the 2000's, tonight's sermon was the most recent in our minds. i had never really thought about it this way, but the past 10 years have been so dominated by fear, based on the historical events. i've lived through these events, but it never crossed my mind how much fear has been instilled in us in this decade. i think our world has changed so much in the past decade, and not really in a good way.

anyway, to the message of Bob's sermon. after setting the stage with all the history, fear, and anxiety of the last 10 years, he broke down a bible story that i've heard so many times but never really connected to present times. exodus 14 is the story when Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and crosses the red sea. when he brought the group of people down to the ocean, they get trapped between the water in front of them and the Egyptian army encroaching behind them. they get angry at Moses for leading them into this seemingly fatal situation, saying they would have rather stayed in Egypt as slaves than die in the desert at the hands of their enemy.

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Moses trusted that God would intervene and save His chosen people, but the hundreds of people following Moses were catastrophizing, or thinking the very worst outcome. worrying, essentially. how many times in life are we in that situation? when we have a huge daunting unknown ocean in front of us and evil forces coming up behind us, getting closer and closer by the minute. we automatically start thinking the worst is going to happen, that we are going to die right there between the ocean and the pharaoh's grand army. what we have to remember about this old testament story is that the Israelites don't die in the desert at the hand of the Pharaoh. God intervenes and saves them, just as He promised. we forget His promise at the first sign of danger. the past 10 years have been riddled with new enemies, foreign and domestic, new dangers, new conflicts, those which have made up our culture of fear. we live in a world where there are a lot of people do not like Americans and are willing to fly airplanes into buildings to make their point. there have been a lot of Egyptian armies in our recent history, and we have been trained to view the future as that big unknown ocean. the whole scenario is just like the one in Exodus.

as i look back through history, through my life and before, there are so many times when i have been stuck between the great unknown and something overwhelming or scary. and looking back, everything always turned out alright...maybe not the way i had pictured it, but it turned out fine, the way God had planned it to. God holds us and promises that He is always in control and promises that when we are stuck between those two things, that He will deliver us according to His plans. i forget that. i forget that God promises to always be there and promises that as His child, i shall never be lost and i don't need to fear. our lives are for Him, we are His children, and He promises never to leave us, even if the ocean is in front of us and our biggest fears are on our back. He will always take care of us, as He promised from the beginning.

NCPTA

i am currently sitting the library at the elon law school in downtown greensboro because i didn't feel like sitting in a 4 hour presentation at the NC physical therapy association's conference. its the marriott in downtown greensboro, 2 blocks away from the law school. i'm representing elon in the debate at the conference tonight, so thats why i have to be at the conference. the law school is beautiful. it makes me jealous actually, because its very pretty here compared to the facilities that we have. i feel that the graduate programs are neglected over in elon, but here, they get the best treatment. its not fair. neither is life. oh well.

i'm just excited that i'm not sitting in a 4 hour session on strengthening abdominals and lumbar muscles. the law library will be just fine!

october = catalyst and clinicals

i think october has got to be my favorite month. in NC, october is gorgeous. no other word for it, just plain gorgeous. its our one real month of fall here before it starts to get cold.

my favorite 2 days of the year also happens in october. CATALYST!!!!! this year was the 10 year anniversary of catalyst, which is a christian leadership conference held in atlanta every year. its 15,000 people with great speakers, awesome worship, and so much creativity in one place. i went last year with my church, and this year, i actually was on a volunteer team. my mom got to come with me this year, she was in california at another conference, and flew into atlanta the night before. we had to be at the arena at 5:30 in the morning, and i was so excited that i only got 3 hours of sleep. catalyst is the most amazing experience, and its so hard to even explain without actually being there. within the church world, its the best lineup of speakers and singers in the country. they always have some pretty big names, and this year they had tony dungy, dave ramsey, josh hamilton, mitch albom, and malcolm gladwell. and i got to see some of my favorite christian speakers, leaders, and pastors, including my hero, louie giglio. its just so amazing to see 15,000 people worshiping together. its an opportunity to take 2 days to re-focus on God and the things that are important in life. plus i got to meet and get my picture taken with dave ramsey. he's the financial guy thats on fox news all the time, the one who tells you to cut up your credit cards.

the other exciting thing about october is that we are getting serious about our first clinical rotation, coming up in january and february. we are filling out all these forms and assessments to put together and send to our clinical sites. its just the first time that clinicals are on all of our minds all the time now. and it means that its actually real. the forms and paperwork is rather redundant and tedious; writing goals and doing self evaluations is really hard for me. i just don't know how to measure those things on myself...i think i'm just way out of touch with that part of my brain. why can't i just say, "i'll promise to try hard and do good." that doesn't exactly cut it unfortunately. i can't believe that i have 6 weeks left of my first year of graduate school. this year has flown by, even though january feels like a lifetime ago. i am looking forward to being in a clinical setting, it will challenge me in so many good ways. i am going to be living with my aunt and uncle in winston salem, and my clinical is in mocksville, which is only about 20 minutes south of their house. it will be fun to stay there for 2 months; my cousin is a senior in high school and i don't get to see my family as much as i would like, so this will give me that opportunity. plus, i made them a deal that since i'm staying for free, i would be responsible for cooking dinner 2 or 3 nights a week. this is pretty much my dream come true, having someone else buy all the groceries, me cook for 6 people, then someone else clean up. all my aspirations in one sentence. i might just drop out of PT school once i realize how much i like that and go to culinary school. i totally would too. if i was failing, i would have so many other life choices, it would be too hard to decide. maybe i'll just go ahead and stay in PT school. i'm almost 1/3 of the way through anyway. and its the hardest 1/3. my grades have never been this good. i haven't gotten a B in a class since about may or june!!

pelvis. spine. and face.

check, check, and check. we just finished up the most intense 6 weeks of the entire DPT curriculum. we covered the pelvic girdle, entire spine, and TMJ in 6 weeks. oh and gait analysis. i am so utterly exhausted and love it at the same time. its terrifying to think that i am now 1/3 of the way qualified to treat a patient. we do the lower extremity next, followed up by the upper extremity. we break up the musculoskeletal orthopedic curriculum in thirds, so we're 1/3 of the way finished! i have learned so much in the past 6 weeks, and learned so many really cool things about the human body. its crazy how one little thing in one part of your body can have the biggest effects elsewhere. its the first time since i had my ankle surgery i really saw how different my body functions...there are some definite residual effects! its been so nice to see the group of us in the class get close and get to know each other so much better. its inevitable actually, when you spend 8 hours a day, plus some, with the same people. because we are going to be physical therapists, we do have to get quite acquainted with the human body, meaning that in our schooling, we get very familiar with each other's bodies. in lab, we sit around in shorts and sports bras. it was very awkward at first, but we all got so used to it, that showing up to class fully dressed will never feel as comfortable. it was funny, the boys were more shy about it at first than the girls. i find that funny. i don't know if there is going to be any more clothing removal labs when we get to the legs and arms, but i won't mind it.

so i'm spending friday afternoon on the couch watching TV to decompress from a very long week of practicals and finals. i'm going to dinner with a friend and then to the young adults ministry kickoff at my church. we are starting a group for young adults in our church and i am so excited that i am going to get to meet some new people my age! before i know it, it will be december and i will be finished with my first year of graduate school!!

wake me up when september ends

i don't remember what boy band sings that song, but it sure it catchy. and so true right now. i'm marathoning until the end of september. our musculoskeletal module is in full force and its killer. its the hardest i've ever worked in my entire life, and i'm loving every second of it. we spend so much time in lab, so thats nice...we actually get to practice and do hands-on physical therapy. its crazy to think that i am soon going to be expected to fully treat a patient. i've never had back pain until i started PT school. imagine having thumbs digging into your spine for 7 straight hours.

everything else is going great, i don't really have any time for anything except school. i've given up hope for keeping up all my hobbies, because i don't have any time for them. its sad. i look forward to having a social life again, even though when i say social life, i mean, time by myself.

i'm home sick from school today, it sucks. i hate being sick. i'm not a good patient whatsoever. i've always been that kid who would rather be at school than home sick. we don't have class tomorrow, so i'm hoping that 2 days spent on the couch will make a world of difference. our crazy school doctor has been telling people to rub vicks vapor rub on your feet then put on socks. i don't know if its helping my cough or not, but it makes my feet feel nice. at least i don't have the swine flu or anything like that. just a bad cough.

so on that note, i'm getting back on the couch. boo being sick.