Christmas Time is here...

...and its been a long time coming. 

 

 

I apologize that is has taken me so long to post again. This semester has been the definition of a  fast and furious marathon. I took two tests just about every week, all semester long, and finished it off with 2 practicals and 7 finals. I don't think I have ever taken so many tests in such a seemingly short amount of time, and I would be lying if I said that I was not at least a little proud of surviving it all.

 

It is hard to believe that I  have already completed two semesters of PT school. That means that I have been a Lubbock resident for 6 months, which is also hard to believe. Whoever called Chicago The Windy City has obviously never been to the LBK. The wind is always blowing... so is the dust. I never thought that I would miss the weather in Waco, but I think I do. It gets crazy cold out there, and I am really not cut out for that.

 

I am finally home for what seems like an eternity, but it is good to be back. The fourth annual Posse Christmas was last weekend, and it was full of much needed girl time. It makes me miss having roommates and not want to go back to my one bedroom apartment. I loved seeing you girls and look forward to many more Posse gatherings for any and all occasions.

 

And now for the updates that ya'll are really reading this for....

1. Naked lab is over and no one will have to awkwardly draw on each other anymore... at least for a month or so.

2. I love PT and know that I am doing what I am called to do.

3. I have been blessed to be single and look forward to celebrating the holidays with my family and friends.

If you are in Dallas over the break, please give me a call! I would love to catch up!

Naked Lab?

Not as glamourous as it might sound. This semester I have a lab for my Functional Anatomy class that enables us to learn how to locate and draw structures on people so that we can better understand why we use certain therapies. You might think that they would bring in volunteers for us to learn on... false. We get to learn how to draw these structures on each other. 

 

For the first lab, our instructor failed to tell us that we would be shirtless, as we would be drawing each other's shoulder girdles. I was one of the lucky ones that wore a sports bra to class, but it didn't make it any less awkward. Both of our instructors are male and to be able to identify the shape of bones requires significant palpation. 

 

I know we are supposed to be professional and mature about this whole thing, but I can't help but dread the day that we do the anterior and posterior hip complex!

Week.... Oh I have lost count

I apologize that my blogging has been rather lax in the latter half of the summer, I ran out of time and new things to talk about. But I am happy to report that the countless hours I spent in lab and the library paid off and I completed my first summer of PT school successfully. I am now on my "summer break," which is really only 2.5 weeks away from school, but I am so grateful for the chance to come home. I am really enjoying seeing my family and friends.

Last weekend I went to Waco for Celina's wedding and to see Baylor friends. It was little strange to come to my home of four years and not actually have a home to return to. It was fun to share stories our real world/life-after-college experiences and see everyone before we scatter for the fall. Also we, and by we I mean me, almost burned Lauren's apartment down, but don't worry it didn't. 

Now I am at home for my last few days before I return to good ole West Texas. I have mixed emotions about returning, I am ready to get on with my education but I am sad to leave my family and friends again, and this time for much longer than I did this summer. So if you have some free time and want to make this girl very happy, come visit me in Lubbock!

Week Seven

And the whirlwind summer continues...

 

Well, this week I had quite a bit of catch-up studying to do after completely ignoring school last weekend. We had an Ethics exam on Friday, which I did not study enough for and am feeling slightly unethical about. Ha ha. 

 

Friday was also my study buddy Ashley's birthday. After taking our test, my study group/Lubbock friends celebrated her birthday all day. Ash and I got pedi's and went "birthday outfit shopping." A big group ate dinner at this wonderful Italian restaurant and then went go kart riding and then headed to The Depot (bar/club district) to go dancing. I think half of my class showed up and we all surprised each other with how much fun we are away from the library! It was fun to see my studious peers loosen up and dance like fools. It was almost like a Zeta function... except it was at a bar, so it was nothing like a Zeta function. I wished my girls were here to enjoy this fun night. 

  

I just realized that I have a test every Friday until the end of the summer, so it looks like that may be the only big night I have for a while. But the semester is close to being over which means I get to go home to McKinney and Waco soon! I am excited to see everyone again before the craziness of the fall semester gets going. If you are in either of these places, I expect to see you in a month or so! 

Week Six

I don't really have time to make a long post, and you probably don't want to read again that all I do is study, so.... I will give you the highlights.

 

1. I used a bone saw to remove a skull cap and held a human brain in my hands. Amazing!

 

2. Jessica and Kyle got married this weekend and I got to go home to participate in the first Posse wedding. 

That pretty much sums it up. Jealous?

Week Five

I was reading through my blog and realized that all I do is talk about school, or how much I study for school, or how much time I spend at school. My life sounds ridiculously boring and I am not really sure why any of you continue to read this blog, but bless you if you do. =)

 

Some of you will remember this from Baylor, but usually when I do not know/can't remember someone's name I like to give them an identifying nickname. Well, there are plenty of people in my PT class that I recognize and even talk to, but really never met them. Needless to say there are many people who have nicknames, and here are just a few:

Motorcycle Adam- he drives a motorcycle

Hoop Earring Girls- they wears crazy-large hoops to Gross Anatomy lab

Sock Boy- he wears colored socks that match his hats

Tall Guy That Looks Like My Cousin- its kinda self explanatory

Hat and Glasses guy- he talks a lot in class

The Married People- this is actually are large group and none of them are married to each other

 

I just realized how fully creepy that is, but you know you do it too.

 

Anyways, we took our second anatomy test yesterday, which means that I am officially halfway through this infamous course! Woo. It also means that I will not have another test until the Friday after the fourth. Woo to that as well. I am excited because it means that I can really enjoy my fourth of July weekend! Jessica and Kyle are getting married a week from today and we are pretty much celebrating all next weekend. I am so excited to go home, see everyone again and celebrate the wedding of two old friends! It is the first Posse/Tri wedding and we do it big! I can't wait! 

Week Four

I have officially been in Lubbock for a month. Where did the time go? Oh wait I remember, it was spent in the library, studying. 

 

In undergrad, the Land of Study was a title only given to the sacred time needed to study for midterms and finals. In grad school the Land of Study is where I daily reside. I know I talk about how much I study every week, but I don't really do much else, so thats what I am going to write about most of the time.

 

I took another test this week, for my Physiology class and aced it. I am grateful for the difficulty of my undergrad physiology class because I am much better prepared than my peers for this course; thank you Baylor! After the test Diana and I went shopping to put some finishing touches on my apartment, and it is so cute now! Please come visit me so I can show it off!

 

I was again reminded this week of how amazing the Lord is as He continued to develop friendships. Notes and phone calls of encouragement from people back home always brighten my day. And no one will ever be able to replace my darling Posse, but I am finding different kinds of friends who encourage me and challenge me and make me laugh so that I don't feel alone in the middle of the West Texas desert. 

 

To continue on the disorganized path of this post, I would like to share a few more Lubbock discoveries I have made.

The tumbleweeds are real and they move quickly.

The animals I previously thought were chipmunks on campus are actually ground squirrels.

When it rains, it floods and hails. This weather is fierce.

My car will never be dust free, even after I wash it.

Ok. Thats about it. 

Week Three

Three weeks of school and one gross anatomy test down. I think I am getting the hang of this thing called graduate school.

 

I wish I had more to report about my fabulous life in the LBK, but I really have been just lounging this weekend. I almost forgot what it was like to watch t.v., but I am pleased to report that it is as wonderful as I remembered. 

 

I also have two new wonderful friends who have absolutely been God sends. Today they brought me doughnuts in an effort to re-create kolache fridays because they new that I am missing my posse and boys. I know I should not be shocked that God answers prayers, but sometimes I forget how good He really is.

Week Two

You know when they tell you that something is going to be really difficult, but you don't really believe them? Somewhere deep down you think "Oh it may be difficult for a lot of people, but not for me" and then list, to yourself, why you are more qualified than many of those who have tried before and found it difficult. Well, this was my reaction when they told me that grad school was going to be hard.

 

Unfortunately, they were right. This week I left my house at 7:30 every morning and did not return home until at least 9:00 pm. I am in class from 8-12, break for lunch, more class till 2:30, go to the library to study till 6ish, eat, then go back to school and study in the lab till 9 or later. Occasionally, a study break turns into a 30 min cardio work out, but mostly I spend my days trying to take in as much information as is humanly possible. I think I have studied more this week than I did for finals this past semester... and our first test in not until next Thursday. I had no idea that there was going to be this much information, in this detail, but there is. And if I am honest with myself, I really kinda love it.

 

On a lighter note, I have put together a list in random order of the highlights of my week: 

 

Realizing that I have logged more hours at school than I have in my apartment.

Using a bone saw to remove a clavicle from my cadaver.

Being chased down the sidewalk by a territorial chipmunk.

Making new friends/study buddies.

Experiencing a Lubbock dust storm (the sky turns red).

Buying a Little Caesar's pizza just for me.

Not dressing up or showering before class, any day this week.

Getting a TTUHSC sticker for my car and picking up my Tech ID.

Seeing jackrabbits being chased by a dog and out running it. 

Phone calls from friends and family.

Well, I am off to the Land of Study.

Week One

... I'm still here. 

I survived my first week of a doctorate program and I am pretty excited. There are over 60 people in my program and there is a good chance that many of them are smarter or harder working than me. There is also a good chance that at least a handful of them are idiots that are going to make me still look really smart. 

We met our cadavers this week and dove right into dissections. My team and I have removed all of the skin and fat from the upper body. Nasty right? Wrong. It was amazing to see what body tissues look like up close and under the skin. The smell is not as bad as I thought it would be either.

As if classes and labs this week were not overwhelming enough, we were also given the opportunity to take a mock version of the Board Certification Exam that we will take at the end of our program. Our instructors apparently felt is was necessary to show us how much we do not know just yet. It was a beating, but I got 58% which I am kinda proud of.

Life in a one bedroom apartment is getting a little bit lonely, but I am very thankful for the new friends that I have made. 

I am now looking forward to a weekend of studying in solitude. God bless grad school.

Life in the South Plains

After almost a week in transition, I finally feel settled. You should have seen the drive out here... I have never felt like I was much of a city girl until I saw what the boonies actually looks like. You can drive for almost an hour and the only sign of civilization is the telephone poles along the side of the road promising that there really are people out there. And when you reach the "city" population of 257, you wonder how in the world people live their whole lives in such small worlds. 

I am extremely pleased to report that Lubbock is the light at the end of that long drive, it is a bit of an oasis in the middle of West Texas. The most restaurants per capita in the US I have been told, which is great news because I love to eat. Everything is very spread out and the city's streets are laid out on a grid, which makes it almost impossible to get lost. 

My parents have both gone back to McKinney and I am living life by myself. It is strange not to have roommates, but my apartment has furniture and things on the walls that make it more home-y. I find myself feeling surprising comfortable in my new surroundings and really enjoying the solitude. I feel like I have accomplished something, although I have yet to really experience anything related to my graduate program. 

Tomorrow I venture into the intimidating world of graduate school. I will be honest, I am terrified that I will be the only one who has no idea what is going on, but rational thinking tells me that everyone else is in the same boat. Right?

Feels like today...

... but I am not actually leaving tomorrow.

Lubbock, TX. Here I come.

  

 

Stop this train

I moved out of my house yesterday.

 

I forgot to leave my keys and pay the last bill... I must be in denial. I think somewhere deep down my brain keeps telling itself that this is just summer break, that Baylor classes will start again, that nothing has changed. Never mind that fact that all of my belongings are currently in my parents' garage or that I have a diploma with my name on it or that none of my roommates, except Lauren, even live in Waco anymore.

 

It goes in cycles. Once I have convinced myself that I really have moved, that I really did graduate, that I really am going to Lubbock by myself, I find myself bitter and already weary about the amount of work that I am going to have to do to get settled again. Beyond the physical exhaustion of moving, I am emotionally drained. Then I begin to wonder why I thought that leaving all of my friends behind to go to West Texas for three years was a good idea. And then the denial begins again.

 

Don't get me wrong, I know I have made the right choice, I just wish it wasn't happening this fast.

 Did I mention I will be farther away from my family than I have ever been? 

It's really over...

I am graduating from college in 1.5 days. 

My Baylor career is not just coming to an end, it is over; never again will I walk the campus as a student. I can never enjoy my bearbucks account to get my daily starbucks fix. They are going to shut down my email address. "So long" to Greek life and intramurals,  I have to join the alumni association now.  It is kinda depressing, really.  I am leaving my home of the passed four years, my friends who have become family, my favorite local restaurants, and my wonderful church, yet in my wake is a smattering of memories that I will carry with me for a lifetime. 

Four years went so much faster than I thought it would, and in many was still feel like I am 17 getting ready to leave for my freshman year of college. One look in the mirror reminds me that I am not, thank God. In other ways, I feel much older than my 22 years; strong, independent and ready to take on moving to a new city by myself. Truth be told, I am terrified of being an adult and all that it entails and wish that I felt much more prepared than I actually do to conquer life after college. Life outside "the bubble."

I am moving to Lubbock in 7 days to start earning my doctorate in Physical Therapy. I am very excited about the opportunity to take a step closer to what I want to do with my life, but I would be lying if I said that I was not apprehensive about the changes that it will bring. I take joy in knowing that this is where I am supposed to be, and look forward to what is in store, but there are still moments where I think I must be crazy. I know a grand total of 3 people in Lubbock and I have only been there once. 

I suppose this is the part where I have to grow up.