Next Year

Second year is well on its way and May/Graduation is finally in sight. Recently I received my second placement for clinicals.
June-Sept 2012: Albuquerque, NM (Health South- Adult Inpatient)
Sept-Dec 20120: St. Louis, MO (Cardinal Glennon- Children's Hospital)
Back home Dec 2012 :)
So excited for my exciting future... Can't wait to be a real OT!

<3 amanda

SOOOOO HOTTTTT

The weather is now in the 90s everyday!!! My oh MY!!! In an attempt to cool off, my friends and I have bought, blown up, and filled a family size kiddy pool!!! Its amazing. We put it on the roof deck and I have lived up there every since. AMAZING!!!

School is going well. Tiring and lots of reading of articles... so many ideas about research projects... but which one to pick. as of now- I am leaning towards looking at how sensory modulation effects executive function and theory of mind of children with autism.

maybe...
:)
peace and love

Summer Session

Back to school and almost back into the rhythm of it all. This summer is mostly filled with reading a million articles about autism and deciding which area I can and want to research. As of now, I'm a tad overwhelmed and definitely have no clue which way I'm going.

But in an attempt to remain sane, I have deciding to add more leisure activities into my weekly routine. Last night we went to a twilight tuesday music performance in the park. It was in front of the history museum and it was amazing. It was the equivalent of a few hundred wine and cheese parties combined all sitting in their folding chairs with wine holders stuck next to their chair. It was awesome, next week I will have my cheese plate :)

week 2 is half way through,,,, July 8th... and ill be home!!

all my love.

May 6th come faster..

As the semester draws to an end, I crave yogurt, otter pops, and endless sun to tan in! I am grateful for the days of sun and am so excited to be going home MAY 6th!!! But now its time to get back into shape... day 2 of running went well and i am enjoying the change in diet. But how I wish I was home and mom could just make me yummy good food and we could spa with a glass of wine.

oh I have no class Thursday and Friday WOOHOOO!!! And AGAIN no class next FRIDAY!!!
Ideas of what to do???
-zoo
-cards games
-?????

And so the HEAT begins..

St Louis is an interesting place... After weeks of FREEZING weather and ice storms and snow, today it will 85 degrees and humid. WOW what a change it is and interestingly humidity does funny things to my hair. ha. It is days like today that make be thankful for ice coffee and lounge chairs and for our penthouse's balcony. :)
Love to you all!

its only tuesday...

As another week starts and I am finally feeling a bit better, which i should even speak bc it will just backfire and i'll be sick AGAin, I can't believe I am almost done with my first year of OT school. It has gone so fast and so much of my life has changed in beautiful ways. I have lived in st louis missouri for almost eight months, have experienced my first real winter season, have found my passion for which i am grateful every day, have tightened the wonderful bonds within my family, and choose only to surround myself with love and happiness. I have loosened the bounds of doubt and stressfulness. I am so lucky to be here for this moment on my journey.
The next few weeks will be hard and with planning and laughter I will get to return home MAY 6th for about two weeks before returning to St Louis to work on my research lab. I finally feel like my chance to change the world is nearing and with all the knowledge I will gain from research and teamwork i know i can do it. :)
Miss Em-rose... I miss you xxxxx10000000. I bet u r just exited to play with my ipad when i get home. hha love you

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
amanda :)

Autism Awareness Month

Yup it is finally here!!! A month dedicated to my mission in life. To find a cure and the cause of Autism.  As we start this month let us "light it up blue" and use this site to find out about events near u  http://www.lightitupblue.org/  :)

Autism affects everyone. Our brothers, sisters, cousins, relatives, friends, neighbors, and everyone knows someone who deals with this syndrome everyday! Let us all join together and celebrate differences but also fight for a cure.

LOVE U ALL

Another week done.

Thank goodness the longest week ever is over. After taking the red eye back to st louis and going directly to Monday's classes I am finally getting a break. I also survived my first big flu of the new year and my seasonal allergies are starting up... come on st louis give me a break. 5 weeks and I am back to CALI!!!! May 9th to be exact!!! :) thank goodness.

Good news: baseball season has started and I LOVE baseball season. Go Cards!!!! AND its the weekend! woot woot weekend.

wish me luck on the next few weeks.. rough waters ahead!

love

update

Back in ST LOUIS!!!! and 5 weeks until im back home for grandma's 80th and papa's 90th! and SARAH's first trip to CALI!! woohoo!

Spring Break was incredible...life is beautiful and oh so much love. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing family. :)

Happy Fat Tuesday

Its the end of Mardi Gras and the end of Fat Tuesday and SOOOOO tomorrow LENT begins. How can it only be just starting ...if lent had started when it was supposed to start aka beginning of FEB I would be home for EASTER. Celebrating this day has really made my heart sad. I am missing my second BIG holiday with my beautiful family. I was talking about my normal Easter when all of a sudden I REMEMBERED... and it was like a smack in the face. :( But next year I will be home for EASTER and THANKSGIVING... I will never miss a big holiday again. I am so blessed to have so much LOVE in my life and thanksgiving.
Lent is a time to remember Jesus's sacrifice and his time in the desert. We are all tempted at times to do things we don't believe in order to take the easy rode. However Lent is a time to remember to take the RIGHT path even if it may be harder and longer. My journey this year will be a time to cleanse my body of meat, sweets, and alcohol.  In order to control my millions of allergies and food issues I hope to reveal these pains in order to concentrate more on my savior and his journey.

Lord, give me the strength.

LOVE YOU ALL!
3 days until home. :)

Almost home

5 days until I am HOME... I never need a spring break more than I do right now. St Louis has returned to freezing and I am officially OVER the cold. California... I MISS U!

and Emmi is almost 13...THURSDAY is her big day! I can't believe it. 13 days ago today I was at my Irish dance Feis with Mom 10 months preggers and still going strong. I am still 13 years later so blessed and thankful for my baby sister who is a beautiful young lady!

All my love :)

Another Long Week.

As spring break gets closer and closer... I feel like my weeks get longer and longer. March 11th I will be home with two whole weeks to hang out with my family and friends. I am so excited!!!
School this week is intense filled with lots of assignments and case studies. After a long weekend of homework and mochas, I got everything done. BECAUSE Nicki comes on THURSDAY! awww, life cant be better.
Also EMILY is turning 13 next week. My baby sister is going to be a teenager. I send her a package of 13 gifts to open each day before her bday and she is loving them. :) so happy. she deserves the world and i am so lucky to be her big sister.

Side note... all my grades have been awesome this semester! woohoo! :)

We arent in the city anymore...

Hi all

After a week of long days including a seminar from Dr Carey, an Australian OT whom is working with stroke sensory recovery from a training program perspective using neurological aspects. It was amazing to listen to and I would love to one day continue on with my education and also get my phd in neurology. Such a beautiful science. My classmates and I also did our first IN_HOME assessment for an 88-year old woman. We used the I-Hope to determine her barriers within her home. It was such a fun experience and it felt like a glimpse of being an OT. And lastly, I am working with a group of kids whose mothers are in a residence facility for recovering addicts. I get to create small groups for the kids and work on issues such as bullying. I really loved it and am so excited for the weeks ahead.

And after all this class and many hours of extra school work, my friend Diane celebrated her 24th birthday at hard rock and wild country.

yes, wild country which is on Horseshoe lane in a small suburb of Illinois. And it was a line dancing place.... to say the least it was a culture shock. I felt like I had walked into a movie like Hope Floats or some small town western movie.  It was awesome. After watching for a while my friends and I joined in and tried out some moves. It was so fun and funny. I even had a nice country boy ask me to dance. It was a blast!! And now back to home. PS it was in the 70s today! Beautiful and sunny. Oh st Louis sometimes I actually enjoy you!

Mike and Chelsea dancing

allison and I

my pre-dancing photo :)

as we walked in the view.

the outside.

love u all!!

LOVE

HAPPPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! 

Love is all around us.... spread love...

<3
amanda

Last week and next week.

We finally went to hockey on Friday after the longest week of my life. Rough week!!!!![ps that is an understatement] But classes are almost caught up after all the extra classes due to the snow days in the week before last. School is good and I feel excited for most of my classes. I have a home modification class which is awesome and neuro which is always my favorite. I am also starting volunteering for an organization that has a residence program for women recovering from addiction and their children. I will be doing small skill and task groups with the kids on Thursday nights. I am excited for this new experience and working on my OT skills.
Hockey was amazing!!!!! We yelled and screamed and finally finished the game in a 9 shot shootout. Sadly we [the blues] lost but I am excited for the next game. :)
Today was 60 degrees here in st louis. WOW right! After weeks and weeks of snow and ice and sing digit temperatures WE ARE ALMOST IN SPRING! Beautiful stroll around the center west end with my new shorter haircut [not too much shorter just 3.5 inches off].

BIG news! Emily is almost 13!!! Its crazy! I can not believe my baby sister is so old!!!

Ok back to reading lbs of reading assignments and to take 2 neuro quizzes before studying for a neuro quiz on wed and paraquad lab time on tues!!

ALL MY LOVE!
amanda :)

Weekends are so much fun!

Last night we were supposed to go to the Blues game but OH NO sold out so we got tickets for next week and I can't wait for my first Blues/hockey games EVER! But instead of hockey we went to dinner and piano bar- so funnnnnn.

And today ice skating and SNOWWWW

and now studying before the super bowl tomorrow:)

love u all and yes I do have school too! But it is Neuro and my major was most of the same stuff. ha

miss u all!!!

BIrthday weekend

I am officially 24 and by Papa's definition an OLD MAID! Thanks Papa! :)
But this weekend was by no means a weekend of an old maid... we played hard and rung in my 24th year with a bang. From sushi to cheesecake to atomic cowboy's reggae music to champagne brunch to baskets of fruit arrangements and finishing with pizza parties... I had a wonderful weekend. I am so blessed to have such beautiful friends at Wash U. I am so thankful to be surrounded by love and friendship. After losing Patti early last week I feared that I would not be able to overcome my heartache but my friends were there. They understood and gave me the best birthday ever. Keeping me so happy and full of joy. I am so blessed. My friends here are amazing and I can not wait to give them each birthday weekends just like mine!

Thank you to my beautiful Artner Grandma and Grandfather for their card and Papa & Aunt Alyce for their card. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful family!! Can't wait until March! :)

love and hugs
amanda

Heavy Hearts

Today started like a normal day.. woke up for my 8am class and proceeded to whine about the long hours of class time ahead of me. Worrying if I had all the powerpoints printed and the articles read for the lectures. However I had no clue what was coming. My mother messaged me information that broke my heart. Patti, my grandfather's girlfriend of many many years, had passed away the night before. My world stopped. I knew she had been sick but my beautiful grandfather is always so positive and I assumed she would recover just as she had done many times before. But she wasn't coming home this time. How could she be gone? It felt like yesterday that we all sat at the SRV house laughing about something or other. I felt like I had just picked her up from her house and it took many moments as she described every photo on her piano explaining each memory...and fed all the dogs but really what I remember most if how her smile lit up the room. Those memories will always be in my heart especially one Thanksgiving in San Fran when she wore her signature pink velor outfit. 

I am blessed to have know her. My entire family is blessed to have had her as a part of our lives. We met her many years ago and every year we saw the life and spark she gave my papa. They were a pair, they were so connected. They were comfort and love and companionship to one another. Each bringing the child out of one another. And most of all they took care of one another with everything in their heart. My family is grateful and I am grateful for the woman she was. 

I hope one day I find these types of bonds...to find someone who accepts you and loves you with everything they can. I will never forget you, Patti. You have always felt like another grandmother to me and I am so thankful to have been part of your life.

Love you Patti. Thank you for helping my papa and for loving him and for loving me. I am sure our Lord is holding you in his arms and finally you have no pain. 

-amanda

To Every Thing There is a Season
Ecclesiastes 3

To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,
and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Back to school

after the most amazing four weeks of my life, I am packing to go back to the cold.

I couldn't even begin to explain the amazing memories I have made and the millions of joyful moments I shared with my loved ones. Everything from Newport rain storms, wine nights with Eskimo kisses, sister days, family baking, apples to apples tournaments, bff days filled with sunsets, fireplaces, soft teddy bears, Santa Barbara strolls, and oh so much more.

Last week I did my second fieldwork at Ronald Reagen UCLA Medical Center in the Adult inpatient Mental Health Unit. It was an experience but I learned so much about myself and where my skills may fit within OT. It was a hard week emotionally. I felt like I took home each client but luckily Carissa was my house buddy. I am very thankful for her!

Now I have to try to pack everything I bought over break into the same suitcases that I brought home in December.

all my love.
amanda