Random

I finally got the pictures I have been waiting for... i made a collage for my room of the wedding!!

 

SO fun!!! 

Happy Halloween EVERYONE!! I love this holiday and St Louis does it well! :) 

Now back to school after a week of 55 hrs of work- so excited. Even if I have a paper and much more undone homework due tomorrow!!

48 days and I come home!!!

love and hugs

amanda

Fieldwork!

What a week...
This week I have learned so much. I have observed everything from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to Outpatient Rehab. I was able to meet and follow some very interesting and talented OTs. They were eager to share their passions with me and remind me why I go to 40 hours of school a week...The one of the main OTs I was paired with worked 11 hour days and so I learned what 11 hrs without a nap felt like- it led to me falling asleep at 830p a mere hour and a half after I got home. Thus no homework was achieved this week except preforming the COPM (Canadian Occupational Performance Measure) which I had to administer for a class and the SOAP note I had to write about the interview.
I also have a maybe topic for my research which is really exciting. I am think Im going to formulate my question about sensory integration / sensory processing of premies in the NICU and 2 year follow up. Maybe look at neurological testing and progress. It is definitely in first stages and I dont really know if I actually will get the NICU as my lab but I hope. I would also love to one day work in the NICU and just work with little bittie babies.. :)
It is odd having all my friends gone. I had to ride the metro to the market yesterday after work but found a much better market than the one I had been going to. much less shady. ha. and i love downtown so it was a nice escape from the central west end (in which i live and where 90% of people are in scrubs).
OH, I realized I never wrote about the Gala that I volunteered at. It was for the Catholic Student Center and it was to raise money for student ministry. Jessica and I were assigned babysitting. I was so excited until they said 10 kids plus 2 infants. ha. But it ended up being so much fun. The kids were intense and crazy. But my favorite Jack became my lil green monster and clung to my back most of the evening. Izzy who looked like Boo from Monsters, Inc. fell asleep in my arms while Ansley jumped over couches at the Ritz Carlton where the Gala was held. Luckily they had us in a room way in the back away from people. It was a fun experience and I really enjoyed watching normal developmental children to again ignite my passion to create change for children whom are unable to meet their milestones. This week has been incredible but it will be nice to see my friend and relax and maybe even trick or treat this weekend.
OH, I am volunteering tomorrow for the Breast Cancer walk..630 call time...why oh why do i do this?! ha. But a few second years are working too so I will have someone to make sure I am awake.

ok so I think that is all. oh st louis is finally getting colder as of yesterday. cross ur fingers we dont have any more tornado warning :)
love and hugs
amanda

Pumpkin Patch

 Allison and I went to the Pumpkin Patch!!!!

 I found one....

 Allison posing on the pumpkins ha

 Awww...

 We had to wait in line behind 2 families...

 Im growing up..

 oh what a long day

We managed to find a pumpkin like spine cord!!!



It was a fun day!!!! :)

Interesting turn on my week

This week is all about getting ready for my first rotation which starts next Monday at Children's Hospital in St Louis. I will be doing outpatient nuero. This week is full of excitement, finally getting to practice what I have been learning for the past 7 weeks. Although full of assignment, I was positively energized.
Today I received news that sank in hard. A student at NDHS was killed yesterday after being hit by a car. His friends responded with creating groups on facebook to remember him. Upon reading my memories of Conor, I was thrown back to Jenn. The accident had similarities and I found myself lost in thoughts of eternity. The weeks after Jenn passed in 2001, I remember the inability to believe that she was gone. The long days and years that piled up until it became fact that she had left us. I feel deeply for the friends and family of Conor. Tragedy it is for a young spirit to have left us so early, so premature. In these times, let us again remember to share love; freely professing our feelings to the persons we care about. God has a plan for us, we are here to fulfill our own densities through Him and for Him. Although thrown into such busy and scheduled lives, please remember to love; proclaim it from the rooftops or in private but take a minute everyday to remind your loved ones.

For my family and friends I am truly thankful. I have been blessed with an amazing support system full of love and acceptance. I have been given hundreds of smiles and hugs to remind me that I am important, that i am special. Share kind words and acceptance of all. Do good, Give everything, and fill your heart with passion for God's family.

Thank you a million times for the love I feel all the way in St Louis.
Pray for healing for Conor's family and for the entire NDHS community.

OT RAP

Manual Muscle Testing

This week is full of Fall. It is beautiful outside about 70-75 during the day with sun and breeze. St Louis is beautiful this season. It is hard to stay inside and write the papers I need to write. My window looks out towards the beautiful park making it all that much harder to study.

Now that my jet-lag is over I am once again so happy to be in st louis and learning so much. This week I am working on manual muscle testing, Range of Motion, and individual muscle testing. We have a practical exam next week before fieldwork and I need lots of practice. So I am going to try to bust out the rest of my sports experience paper and the historical occupational therapy paper and the biomechanic activity analysis article review.... maybe I will make it back to the gym this week...although all the walking I do, to the market, to school, to everywhere...is probably working a lot of calories off plus the dancing. Study breaks have evolved into dance breaks often inspired by some pop artist of the 90s or Broadway soundtrack.

that is enough for now...

lots of love and peace this week. And especially thanks to our Lord for blessing Amy and her new husband, as well as the 33 miners in Chile who have returned safely to their families.

:) <3 amanda

Cali Trip... and wedding fun!

This weekend was beautiful. I am so thankful for my friends and family. Amy and Tim's weekend was awesome. It started an hour after I got in at her Cali-Mex themed Bachelorlette party which was adorable and filled with every from games to a pinata. I inherited a 3 month old for the night whose mother referred to me the entire weekend as the baby whisperer. haha Thomas was the best baby ever!
Saturday was full of visiting the new house, shopping, and then being bombarded by the new neighbors who pegged steven as related to the artners and me the non-related one. hah.  Then we went to Martz's aunt house... it has a 3 story tree house and is on hgtv every Halloween for the decorations. It was amazing. and finally sunday.. We made brunch at Jac's house and enjoyed the day until the wedding...

Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Addink

LvHS plus Tim

The Artners

omg.. the child with "cousins" in her hand thought I was bringing her home... her mother had to explain that really wasnt. :(

my date and i!

LvHS and Crespi Unite!!

beautiful .... :)

Love......

So now finally recovering back in st louis... my cali trip was incredible and I am so thankful and full of love....
I have already booked my Xmas return to cali... Dec 17th to Jan 18th... more love to come!!

:) thank you all and congrats amy and tim! What a beautiful and faithful couple you are. I am so lucky to be in your life!!!

:) faith, hope, love

amanda

What a week...

This week was crazy... full of homework and class assignments. But I am done for now and I am about to head to the airport to come home for the weekend. Amy (my high school best friend) is getting married!!! I am so happy for her and so excited to see everyone. Tonight is the bachlorette party and in the Louisville HS tradition we are bringing our favorite quote to share with Amy. I am so blessed to have such incredible friends whom love and support have shaped me since I was little.

Last night we went to an event called Mindstorm, which consisted of a 7 min simulation of what having schizophrenia would be like and following was a discussion with a psychiatrist,  a social worker, and Joanie who has been living with schizophrenia for over 35 years. It was so interesting and I am so inspired by Joanie's story. She explained that although treated with many different medicines, she still hears voices consistently throughout every day. She explained that they never stop telling her to hurt herself but through her spiritual community and the Independence center here in st Louis, she knows there is hope and that she is someone, someone special and just because she lives with a mental illness does not make her any different than anyone else. She was beautiful and her dedication to living a good life through God was beautiful.

On a side note and a completely different topic... one of my professor is Carolyn Baum. She has been the president for AOTA and has written most of my text books. We had a lecture from her earlier in the week and I can not stop thinking about how amazing her passion is. She is truly one of my role models. As she spoke I scrambled to down quote after quote that rolled off her tongue. She talked about how we as a world live our normal lives through adaptive technology..  she says, how many people could get to the 30th floor in a building without an elevator. Then why do we disable individuals whom have disabilities. A totally abled man who happens to be in a wheelchair is disabled when a building does not have a ramp...why are we as a world disabling individuals?

Ok, I am off now.
Peace and Love
Amanda :)

Anatomy...

I had my first BIG anatomy exam which is 15% of my grade.. it went ok, i am happy its over and have now learned how i should be studying for the next one. cross ur fingers I did better than ok! ha

This week is going to go fast and I have a lot to do. I am coming home Friday for my friend Amy's wedding. So no hw on the weekend... wish me luck that I get everything done.

i love you all
hugs and love
amanda

Cards Game!!!!!

After weeks of being a St Louis resident, I still had not made it to a Cardinals game and so we went!!!
9 of us (Chelsea, Lisa, Lori, Brittany, Heather, Mike,Allison,Stephanie, and Me- yes only 1 boy) but it was a Wash U Cards Night so we got to meet a TON of new grad students from the non-medical school. Since our campus is separate from the rest of Wash U it has been hard to branch out but my new friend Alex and I are putting together a mixer for the boys from the MBA program and the girls from OT! haha- I am thinking an 80s theme mixer.

Back to the game... the Cards were awesome (kinda) but it was a blast! We took the crazy metro full of Cards and Blues fans everyone dressed in red or blue!!! So fun! They played the Rockies whom lost horribly. :) woohoo Cards!!!

me, Allison, Chelsea, Mike

the group

brittany and me cheering

adorable.

the game

the metro on the way home...

 Lisa and I!!!! :)

and now we study A LOT!!!!! For Monday's big anatomy test!
oh ps. I got an A on my first Paper on client centered care in terms of meanings and goals! And I think I found the lab I want to research in!! Neonatal Lab!!!

I love OT
hugs and love