One of Many Goodbyes

The campsite for the next week!

So this is officially my last blog for Rockhurst, which means this is my last blog period.  First off, CONGRATS to all graduates that get their diplomas on Saturday! 

This week holds a test, my comprehensive and then my class's white coat ceremony!  (if time permits I will post pics this weekend from the ceremony)  It is a little exciting simply because it is a tangible reward for the 2 hardest years of school in my life and because it marks the beginning of my final year and my great and rewarding experience with rotations that starts in a few short weeks!

It also means I must start packing....dun dun dunnnnnnn.  Being the organized person I am, this means packing takes three times as long.  Thankfully Marina has offered to come help next week!

I am on a slight pre-euphoric high with all the fun things coming up, which is helping me get through the 6-8 hours study sessions everyday in preparation for Thrust.  Thank goodness I get a short stint with my parents Friday!

So to all of you who are considering Rockhurst: Come check out our campus and get to know it!  Rockhurst is a great place to be and I have loved my 6 years here, the 4 in undergrad and the 2 in physical therapy school! 

To all of you who are already here: have a great and safe summer! 

To all of you who are graduating and putting on your big kid pants: good luck and find all the little blessings!

To anyone else: happy Sunday!

A HUGE thank you to my mom and her amazing Final weeks care package!
Rainbow Themed for a stormy week!

Rainbow Brite week

So in the attempt to be an optimistic person I have taken what is usually called an "H-E-double hockey sticks" well and renamed it Rainbow Brite week.  I am crazy OCD and organized when it comes to my planner and so every class assignment/test date is highlighted in a different color...this week I am blessed to have every color of the rainbow?!

But with the light at the tunnel slowly getting bigger the end is in sight!  Which means that this weekend was filled with hours upon hours of pouring over musculo notes and babysitting and the realization that I have to start saying good-bye is getting bigger and bigger.

I missed the bullet on having to say good-bye to many people when I graduated from undergrad in 2010 because I stayed here for Graduate school.  There were a few people who left for other schools or jobs but I was fortunate that my big chunk of friends stayed here in Kansas City.  So it is making it CRAZY hard to start saying good-bye to those friends I have had as a blanket on top of the kids I have babysat for the past 4 years. 

Now I know this sounds melo-dramatic considering I will be able to come visit some in the fall and I am coming back in January for 4 months to finish up my degree but even have something that is of that much comfort go away is going to be a little unsettling.  It doesn't mean I am not excited for rotations because am incredibly excited about those opportunities and they are going to be worth it!

The best part about this week ending is Emily and I get to have dinner with one of our old roommates and catch up!  (oh, and I guess finishing all these tests will be another plus).

I also caved in a bought a sweet/nerdy application for my phone that is the "PT Question of the day" where is sends you a board-like clinical question that you can answer and then get justifications on why the answer is right/wrong!  Hopefully it will pay off next year!

Until then have a wonderful week! 

The adorable puppy I will get to hang out with during my summer rotations!

PT school: turning us into moms one outfit at a time

Linds and I at the Royals game last week

So now that we have reached the home stretch of classes, my motivation has taken a trip straight out of town.  Here is how the rest of our semester breaks down:

• 1.5 weeks of classes and practicals
• 5 days of finals
• followed by the 4 hours comprehensive.....
• and then 2 more attempts if you don't pass the first time, because taking it the first time is so much fun!?

There are so many other things my mind thinks it needs to do like packing, cleaning, running, playing scramble with friends for hours at a time, and shopping. Today Jessica and I successful purchased more cardigans so we successfully like like moms on the go...you know, khakis, tennis shoes, and cardis.  We are very stylish :).

On a surreal note I was looking at my coursework and noticed that my class numbers are in the 7000s.  What?! When did that happen?!  It wasn't that long ago I was in 1000 level classes and getting stressed about 4 page papers!  Now I am an adult, with almost an adult job, who looks like a mom and thinks that everyone younger than me is a solid 18 years old (or babies).   

But seriously it has been a quick 2 years in PT school.  I can honestly say I did not picture this point in my life even a year ago because it seemed to far away and now it is breathing down my throat.  I am really impatiently waiting for rotations at this point!  What a crazy fun adventure!  But until then I should probably back track a few weeks and finish this semester!

Dog sitting Zoe...the perfect and adorable distraction to all things school

A birthday weekend of Titanic proportions

Standing on top of the huge pile of rock we moved!

So before I go into what was a sweet birthday weekend, on Friday me and 12 classmates spent some time volunteering at Habitat for Humanity.  We went to a donation site where we loaded a dumpster full of textured rock to be sold at their store, in which the profits go towards building houses for those in need.  Not only did we find 10 frogs in the pile and safely deliver them across the lot, we also loaded a majority of the rock in the dumpster and completely filled it up.  Now ask us if we used good body mechanics.....I would say we made a conscious effort but don't let our teachers know we had back pain the next day!

Kiley, Molly and Emily before the race

Saturday morning we went and cheered on our friends in the Rock the Parkway Half marathon!  There were 6 girls and 1 teacher running the half marathon and then another teacher who ran the 5K.  Our classmate Kim won the women's overall with a time of 79 minutes! How awesome! And Emily and Molly ran their first race with Kiley and they all did great!

Then is was time for my birthday weekend!  Now usually turning 24 isn't that interesting, but many cool historic things happen on April 15 including:

• Tax Day
• President Lincoln was shot and killed
• National Jackie Robinson day
• penicillin was discovered
• Leonardo Di Vinci was born
• AND this years more important event: the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking!

Megan and I at the Museum downtown...
Kevin bravely took the pic in the rain

In honor of the fact that I "only turn 24 on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic once", I did many a Titanic events including:

• The sweet traveling exhibit at Union Station...we got to be actual passengers and I survived! My friends did not :(
• Titanic and Ice Berg shaped ice cubes
• Titanic movie in 3D (still just as gripping as when I was 10, I was on the edge of my seat)
• Dinner and dancing with my great friends!

Dinner on the Plaza

It was a great and wonderful time and I am so blessed to have the great friends and family I do! 24 has never felt so good!  Then on Monday I went to the Royals Games with Lindsey and Patrick since they were in town visiting...next time I see them I will be moving to Oklahoma for rotation in August! That is CRAZY! (I will put that pic on the next blog!)

Dancing with friends!

Thankfully this week at school has not been to demanding because I am exhausted and have seriously considered a caffine IV to survive. Tomorrow is our last night of lab and we get to dog sit our favorite Zoe this weekend! Have a great Thursday!



Titanic in 3D! ...too bad Jack let go in the end

Let's take a ride in the Cash Cart

So today my infinite and vast amount of useless trivia finally paid off.  As my classmates and I were walking to musculo the Cash Cart approached us (yes if you are thinking "like cash cab but in a golf cart?" you would be correct).  So Allie and I rode around campus on this cart and answered Rockhurst, pop culture and history trivia.  Basically by the end of the ride our awesomeness was solidified...which includes our amazing guessing skills at time. And the best part was we won dinosaur tattoos and a gift card to Yogurtini!  Whoop whoop!  SAB (student activities board) was doing some promoting of an even they have tomorrow and it ended up being a great laugh.  Some questions we answered:

• Rockhurst Undergrad population?  A: 1500
• Disney Darling who just had a baby? A: Hilary Duff (don't mess with the Lizzie McGuire kids of 2002)
• First country to recognize Mexico's Independence day? A: USA
• President who said "ballots are more powerful than bullets"? A: Abraham Lincoln (we used our shout out, who was one of our professors, she didn't know but our guess was right!)

In more sobering news, today we learning that one of our professors is leaving the program to go help start a new PT program in Kentucky.  While we wish him nothing but the best and know he will do great things for that school, we are really going to miss him!  I was fortunate to have Don as a professor in undergrad and I give him a lot of credit for helping me solidify my choice to come to RU.  His teaching method was awesome and I knew that if the other teachers were anything like him I would get a great education.  So to the lucky ducks who get to have him as a professor, get excited cause we are really bummed that our future students won't get to!

We also went to Trails West State School today to work with children who have severe mental and physical disabilities.  My group got to meet a really sweet boy and work with him some on standing and muscle tone.  It was a very humbling experience and I respect those teachers and therapists so much for the work they do!

This weekend is my Titanic birthday celebration and I am so stinkin' excited!  More to come on Sunday! ....and yes, Allie and I will be sporting our awesome dinosaur tattoos when we venture out on Saturday!

Happy Easter!

At this late hour and a few days of many miles of driving, catchy and creative blog titles are not easy to come by!  So this week in school we learned taping techniques of the lower extremity.  Taping is a way to help re-align muscles so they move properly.  As you can see from the picture, you can tell they are very attractive and should be worn to any function where "dress to impress" is suggested.  I also got to be an example for how effective it can be for people who straighten their knee beyond zero....I seriously couldn't push my knee back! Very effective!

Then it was time to drive home for the beloved Easter break, which at Rockhurst is the last few days off of school before the last month of classes and finals.  My aunts and I were able to go and watch my sister and her pole vaulting meet on Saturday before my family drove north to Illinois for the Easter Holiday.  I even got to see my cousin's adorable son...which would be something like first cousin once removed? 

Four month old Josie Wales

Today we spent the day with my relatives that live in Illinois and got to spoil the newest addition to the family, my Uncles new puppy Outlaw Josie Wales (he names all of his hunting dogs after western bandits and cowboys. Her momma is named Jessie James)!  We also got our ceramic painted Easter Egg, my most favorite tradition of all time.  Every year my mom paints us an egg and it is an amazing tradition that I adore and am so grateful for! 

Titanic Birthday Cake

My sister (with assistance from my cousin and mom) made me my birthday cake!  For reasons you will learn next week my birthday this year is Titanic themed, so they of course made me a fantastic and fabulous Titanic cake.  It was as delicious as it looked!

Time to drive back to Kansas City tomorrow and get back to the books for the final weeks of class.  Of course I have not begun to start studying for the comprehensive exam...maybe tomorrow?! :)

My gorgeous family!

My Easter Eggs that my mom has painted over the years!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

So this week March said farewell with gifting us 3 tests that weren't nearly the nightmare I had imagined. We talked about patients prone to falling and finished our vestibular unit and even got to stop and smell the 300,000 tulips Rockhurst planted on campus that bloomed. I have added in a few of the pictures I took on campus of them. They are beautiful and a wonderful way to welcome spring on campus after spending way to much time inside the last few months!

The Science Center

Friday brought a few adventures for me and some of my classmates. First off was getting our certification renewed for CPR for our clinical affiliations. Then me and 15 classmates participated in doing a trial run of the OSKEY exam that is used for medical and even dental students in their education. Of course ours was the physical therapy edition :) Our professor was looking at the use of iPads verses paper for grading and to see if it is something the program can use as means of testing in the near future. My benefit? Getting practice with 2 standardized patients and getting feedback from actual clinicians all without the worry of failing a practical. So it was great to have some feedback before rotations!

Running in Loose Park

I was also blessed to be able to go run in Loose Park on one of the gorgeous days this week. Loose park is literally a mere mile walk from campus and is a beautiful place to run, Play Frisbee, study, or read a book. It has been one of my favorite places ever since I first came to Rockhurst when I was a freshman. Sadly my Flat Rock E. Hawk wasn't able to come along for the ride.



Between cleaning out my closet, painting pottery and making Easter cupcakes it was a pretty productive weekend. Now maybe I should get to a bit of studying? Let's be honest, I will probably watch the ACMs and enjoy my favorite country bands.

The Easter Cupcakes I made with the girl I babysit!

By far April is my most favorite month of the year and this go around is no exception. With Easter, my titanic themed birthday, habitat for humanity, the wonderful weather, and then some all packed into the next four weeks needless to say I am going to be busy but very excited!  But most importantly Thrusday I get to go home for my favorite holiday and to see my family!

Hope you enjoyed this beautiful day!

Flat Stanley, meet Rock E. Hawk?

So in the mail yesterday we received an interesting letter from school saying they changed the Hawks name (mascot) to Rock E. Hawk.  Along with this was a punch out of the Hawk and instructions to take him on our daily errands and tasks, take pictures with him and upload them to Rockhurst...similar to the flat Stanley concept used in many elementary schools.  So, in good spirit, I took a pic with my Flat Rock E. Hawk.  We will see if he actually makes it off the refrigerator after this point. :)

This week has been a fun one!  On Thursday me and ten of my friends and classmates stood in line for the midnight showing of the Hunger Games and it was a great time and fantastic movie!  I have been waiting for this movie for over a year and I was beyond excited for its premiere!  I am sure some of my friends temporarily disowned me for the week :)

The campus' infamous tulips have also started to bloom, which after a whole week of clouds and rain is an even more beautiful sight!  Every spring the campus plants hundreds of tulip bulbs ever since I was a freshman in the dark ages, I have loved when they bloom! It is a great start to my most favorite time of the year.

Yesterday the class went to a library in Northern Kansas City and did free health screening for kids ages 7-18.  It was a really great experience and it was nice to be able to reach out into a part of the community that doesn't usually get that kind of information or feedback and help introduce them to healthier lifestyle options.  (and the kids are always super cute!)





Outside of my small run I will be taking later to enjoy this amazing day, my and a majority of my classmates will be studying for the 3 tests we have this week....joyful?  My roommates and I have been dog sitting Zoe, my friends adorable little dog for the weekend and from the pic I took when I was studying yesterday, it seems we have the same views on reading through notes. :)

 Have a blessed week!

and the rivers ran green

St. Patrick's Day in Westport

Top of the Mornin'!  Since I am slightly Irish and yesterday was the lovely St. Patricks day, it is a pretty appropriate gesture (minus the fact it is afternoon).  So while many of you are probably broken hearted and depressed because of your shattered bracket (my roommates are Mizzou fans so it is a common theme here), I have been spending my weekend babysitting my friend's adorable dog: 5 pound beyond adorable Zoe.  She is the cutest gem of a cuddle bug and we have loved having her this weekend! 

This week also brought a tide of warm and beautiful weather!  While it made the classrooms warm and unbearable it made for a few outsides runs around the lake at Bass Pro Shops perfect and beautiful.  It was amazing to be able to be with my thoughts and music in the sunshine.  We won't mention how I am so pale I was reflecting the sunlight.  And it wasn't all the weather's fault about making it tough to focus in class...the week after spring break is always difficult to focus again.

In the world of school we ran statistics on our research project and we have great news!  Our data showed a significant difference between the different breathing conditions!  It was a huge relief to my group to have some good results from our long hours of data collection!

Yesterday my roommates, friends, and I went and celebrated St. Patrick's day down at Westport, which is a bar and restaurant area of Kansas City.  It is similar to the Plaza or Brookside or Power and Light districts, for those of you who might be familiar with one of those areas.  We enjoyed the sunshine to the point of red shoulders, good laughs and great music!  So today to pamper our tired feet a few of us went and got pedicures!

The best part of this upcoming week is that the Hunger Games is out!  I am a huge fan of my Kindle and therefore a big dork who reads a bunch.  Last year I read the Hunger Games Trilogy and was hooked.  I have since convinced probably a dozen people to the point of annoyance to read them and now we are all going to the midnight premiere on Thursday.  It is going to be divine! If you asked us, you would think that Harry Potter is back or something :)

May the odds ever be in your favor this week! (again, Hunger Games.  I am not at all excited about this haha)

Listening to Neil McCoy in Westport!

Ain't in no hurry today

Spring Break is officially over and even mother nature is upset.  The rain and springing forward last night for daylight savings time has officially made me drowsy and highly unmotivated to do a few last minute things before school starts back up tomorrow. 

I do plan on actually cooking before I go back to the nights that mostly consist of chicken, salads, grilled cheese, and frozen pizzas.  I also have to pick up my friend from the airport after he spent the weekend in Vegas for our friend's bachelor party.  We can't wait to fly out to New Jersey in June to celebrate his wedding! 

Viola!

My spring break was pretty fabulous!  While the mornings were usually devoted to something school related, I got to get to gym and spend my evenings with family and friends.  I was able to see my former high school's musical "Fiddler on the Roof", go shooting with my dad/sister/grandpa, and have some delicious dinners.  I spent a large chunk of my invisible money tree on clothes which resulted in having to donate a trash bag full of clothes when I got back to KC.  However, my greatest accomplishment came from buying a nail art pen and polka dotting my nails....can anyone say "winning"?!

But now that we are technically on the "downhill" of the semester (if it is it is going to be incredibly rough and slow moving), there are some fun things to look forward to like my birthday party extravaganza, Easter break, habitat for humanity, white coat ceremony, and the not so fun comprehensive exam.  Believe it or not, all of this (which is about 20 percent of my life) has to happen in TEN WEEKS!  Then it is time to pack up and move onward to rotations!

Don't Let the Sound of Your Own Wheels Drive you Crazy

All signs point to home sweet home!

Spring Break is finally here! After a stressful week of midterms and practicals it is safe to take a few days to breathe.  The week was mostly spent at school but I got a few quiet moments to step back.  First Emily and I had dinner with our friend Kate, who we lived with for a few years in an OCH.  She is now going to graduate school in Texas and was visiting her boyfriend for a few days.  It was lovely to see her and catch up!

I also got to play with the choir for Taize prayer on Wednesday.  I played for Rockhurst for a few years but my schedule in graduate school started interfering.  So I was very excited to play for St. Marks.  For those of you who don't know Taize prayer is a form of reflection and uses repetition of songs as a form of meditation.  It was wonderful to take a minute and just be quiet.

The storm clouds heading to Kentucky as I was heading home

Friday I finally got to come home!  It is crazy weird and cheesy how much you grow to love your "boring" hometown as you grow up.  There was a lot of serious weather that day in my neck of the woods but thankfully there weren't tornadoes that touched down in our area and I missed the storm when I was driving in.  There was also some snow showers in Kansas City that I missed when leaving in the morning.  I was very thankful to not cross either of those storm's paths!

I have spent the last few days loving the simplicity of life!  I went to the shooting range with dad, Grandpa, and my sister yesterday afternoon and laughed until my stomach hurt last night with my close friends that still live in Cape! 

Chleo and I heading to the gun range with dad and grandpa!

The rest of my spring break is mostly unplanned (outside of going to see my high school's musical, some shopping, and more time with great people) and I am very much looking forward to it!  Have a blessed week!

If only I had superhero powers...

Allie and my's weekend...studying for musculo practical

Next week starts mid-terms so what better way to prepare than to camp out at school all weekend?!  Okay, we aren't all crashing here at night but large chucks of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are being spend brushing up on Musculoskeletal Techniques, Neuromuscular lab concepts, and then stuffing what's left of our brains with information for our few written tests we have.  Spring Break 4 days away and counting!


No it is not near as bad as it sounds, considering every week I post about always doing schoolwork or tests or drowning in Times New Roman font on things about PT.  I guess since this is our last full semester that the teachers get their hands on us until clinicals they except a lot out of us and are trying to get in as much as possible.  It is stressful and at times a feat that looks near impossible but as always, we will make it out of this semester alive and with minor flesh wounds.


One unique thing we did this week was venture to a homeless shelter that helps families get back on their feet and do a development screen on the children there.  My groups child was beyond adorable and almost 2 years old.  Our child had to do tasks like throw a ball, scribble, stack blocks, and pull pegs out of a board.  After doing the screening my group determined that the child is developming normally and our only concern was with their sitting leg posture. 


My research group also FINISHED our data collection!  What a releif!  Next step: run statistics on our data to see if there was a significant difference between breathing conitions. 


In the small social slice of my pie I was able to visit with my friend Ali and Lindsey breifly since they were in town visiting family.  Well worth the few study breaks at the beginning of the week!

Break free from reality

This past week was full of information and studying!

Kelly practicing wrapping Kim's arm

In medical conditions lab we had a guest speaker who is a physical therapist in wound care.  She talked about and showed us all the different bandages and dressing used with various types of burns and wounds.   We then practiced wrapping and correctly unwinding the bandages.  Then on Thursday we worked with pigs feet.  No that was not a mis typing, we worked with pigs feet.  We had to document the wounds that were present on the feet (our teacher created them) by measuring, poking and prodding.  Then we were welcome to cut around for giggles....if you could guess, I didn't do much excess cutting!

In musculo we continued to learn about muscle massage techniques and tapping procedures for the shoulders.  After only a few minutes we all realized that all of us have terrible "hunching over notes and books" posture that is in need of some serious attention!

A picture my teacher took during Baby Lab a few weeks ago
that she released to the class, he's adorable!

We also took a few exams and are currently prepping for a few more this coming week.  But no worries, spring break is 2 weeks away, which is pretty mind blowing! 

In the physics lab Emily and I teach we learned about the third class lever the resistance arm is longer that the effort arm and the fulcrum is not in between these 2 arms) that is the elbow and used models to demonstrate the resistance torque to weight in the hand and gravity and the effort torque that the muscle uses to lift the arm.  Next week we are looking at he second class level of the ankle. 

A picture of the flowers we got my sister
since the pics from the state meet are on her
camera!

I went to St Louis on Friday to watch my sister dive at the State competition on Saturday and she did great!  It was a short trip with a lot of road time but worth every mile.  Some down time with my parents was exactly what I needed after a rough week!

Onto another week!  Have a blessed day!

Blown away by the Windy City

We landed back in Kansas City a few hours ago and I am not at all wanting to go back to school tomorrow!

I adore this photo! Us on the SkyDeck at Willis Tower!

We flew out Wednesday to Chicago for the 2012 APTA (American physical therapy association) Combined Sections Meeting!  After learning our compass directions and figuring out public transit in a big city we settled into our awesome hotel!

We attended various meetings and lectures that were hosted by different fields of APTA (othro, neuro, aquatics, women's health, etc).  My favorites from the conference was the one about Rotator Cuff surgery and rehab strategy and then the running mechanics lecture.  They were intriguing, informative and taught some new things to better me as a therapist!  There were over 12,000 (yes that is THOUSAND!) physical therapists and student physical therapists from all over the country.  It was amazing to see how many people are in our profession.  About 30 of my classmates went to the conference. 

Lauren and Molly walking around
Grant Park

Of course we took some time for site seeing and being a tourist.  We visited Willis (Sears) Tower, the Bean, Michigan Ave, and Grant park.  At Willis Tower we stood/sat on the skydeck 103 stories up with only a sheet of super thick glass beneath our feet, it was amazing!

Some other things I learned about Chicago:

• While I had wind burnt cheeks to prove it, Chicago is actually called the Windy City because of it history of politics and mafia
• Revolving doors are essential in a city of brisk winds
• Boat shoes are not the best option when it is snowing
• Public transit is not my first choice in transportation...but essential in a city that size
• The great Chicago fire of 1871 burned 1/3 of the city: Wowza! (I am a bit of a history geek)

Overall it was a great trip!  Time to get back to a crazy week!

Emily and I in front of the Bean!

Bean reflection picture!

Superbowl crowns and surgical gowns

What an exhaustive weekend before an exciting trip!

Some classmates at Parent's Night Out

Saturday about ten of my classmates and I went and volunteered at "parent's night out", which is hosted by a church out in Overland Park, KS.  We were each paired up with a child with special needs for 3 hours while their parents got a much needed date night where their child was in a safe environment.  I was paired with a child with profound autism and while I have worked with children with special needs for over 4 years, I have not by thrown into quite that situation.  He had a very large communication barrier so it was definitely difficult to understand him a moments.

Superbowl Sunday

Superbowl Sunday arrived shortly after that and it was a frenzy.  After not having time to hit up the grocery store I quickly threw together delicious peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (one of my specialities) before meeting a great friend from high school for lunch.  I also got to play my flute at the confirmation mass at the church I attend in Independence!  Music is one of my rusty pastimes so any chance I get to dive back in I do!

Some classmates and I watched the Super Bowl at their apartment....and by watch the Super Bowl, I personally mean watch the commercials, eat delicious food, and grade physics labs. 

Bring it on Infectious Diseases!

Today in our Medical Conditions class we learned about proper garments when handling infectious diseases, which meant sporting ridiculously attracted gowns, masks, gloves, and hair nets.  This moment only happens once in your RU Physical Therapy Student careers, so you better believe there were pictures that documented the lab.  So please enjoy!






Wednesday me and many of my classmates are flying to Chi-Town (Chicago) for the 2012 APTA Combined Sections Meeting for the weekend!  It is going to be a great time away from Kansas City, a little site seeing, some networking, and a handful of lectures about various topics in the field.

Lauren, Emily and I gloved up and ready to go

Kiley and Amanda sporting the other hair net option!

Peace out and see ya next week!

Babies, figure skaters, and spriometers

This week has been a whirlwind of class, labs, data collection, and all things adorable kiddos.  I have never been a fan of February but this week has been case and point of why I am liking it even less.  My planner is color coordinated to the max for this month and we are only on day 3!  Good thing Spring Break starts shortly after March does cause we are going to need it!




Group member Nikki performing a
developmental test on one of the
babies.

First off, we have officially collected data on 12 people for our research study!  While it is time consuming and tedious, we are all so relieved to finally be able to get some numbers down for our project.  Only 18 more to go and we are hoping to get it all done during this month!

We also were very fortunate to be able to work with actual babies for different ages for our Peds lab.  My group got to work with a 14 week old baby and a 7 1/2 month baby.  Their parents were gracious enough to let us do tests and measures, and even automatic and tonic reflexes on them!  For example, if you extend a young babies foot and apply a quick and sharp stimulus to their foot their opposite leg will draw near to their bellies!  It was really neat to see these concepts in real life!  It got me excited for my peds rotation (which is a long was away in October still). 

An adorable older sibling  we got to play with
when working with her little brother

Finally in Physics lab this week the students learned about rotational inertia and momentum.  For rotational inertia, they spun on a stool while holding weights away from their body and bringing them close (which caused them to spin faster).  Wonder why figure skaters speed up when doing those turns when they bring their arms to their chest or why when they do their jumps their arms are across their chest?!  It's because an object spins faster when the weight is distributed closer to the axis of rotation! 


Enjoy your weekend!

Fine dining and diving

My sister about to dive

Back and not at all ready for another week! It is Sunday morning and my laundry list is crazy long, I guess that's what I get for spending Friday and Saturday in Springfield.  But is was so worth it!  Watching my sister dive (and swim a little) was awesome; she did so great! I was so glad I got to see her compete before state in a couple of weeks!

The Osceola Cheese Mouse in front of the store

I also got to visit one of my favorite stores...the Osceola Cheese store.  It is to DIE for.  Over 200 kinds of cheeses that you can sample and then of course by your waist line's better judgement buy.  Every time I drive down to meet my family on Tablerock lake in the summer or even drive by Osceola Cheese I am compelled to stop.  I am addicted!  And to top it off, I got my sister and I cute Osceola Cheese sweatshirts.  Fantastic moment! In fact, I am sporting it right now! haha

Cake Pops  drying in the stand my dad made for me over
Christmas.

To add to the healthy diet of speciality cheese and panera bagels this weekend, I also made Cake Pops with one of the girls I babysit.  While they are utterly delicious without my sisters cakepop maker it is a seriously labor intensive project! 

On the docket today?  Interviewing my friend for a project, attempting to read a bunch of school stuff and finish a few assignments, and most importantly watching "Once Upon a Time".  It is a great show to start the week off with and a perfect excuse to avoid homework for another hour.  It will also be an early bedtime today because in my head I slightly resemble a zombie. 

Have a blessed Sunday!