WOW I fail at this.

So my New Year's Resolution was to keep up with this blog. Well, I have obviously failed so far. Here is an update on how my clinical went. It was an outpatient orthopedic clinic about an hour outside of my home town. I learned a great deal and was touched by the patients I had there and the stores that they shared with me. I learned that I could do outpatient orthopedic if the opportunity arises. I really enjoyed being at home with my family and being close to my boyfriend. I had a really special summer back in North Carolina seeing friends and enjoying the environment.

NOW, I am back at school. My apartment is beautiful (well as beautiful as possible) and so totally me. It is great being back at school and seeing friends before all the stressers set in. I missed my friends, but I did not miss the work. This weekend is Labor Day weekend so I guess I will have more time to catch up on everything. We have a big picnic on Friday for both classes so that will keep the first part of the weekend entertaining.

I had a dream I was in Canada last night fishing. I really wish it wasn't 9 hours away. I would love to see the place again. The people aren't so bad either . ;) Just kidding. Just for Nann and Pops, I miss you! A bunch! I will try and call this weekend! I love you!

FINALS ARE OVER!

Finals are over and I am slowly cleaning and moving things out of my apartment.
Here is how I felt all of this week (stuck in a swing, not going anywhere):

This is how I feel now (YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!):

I am not very good at updating

So, the good news, the bad news.

Good news: Summer school is flying by so fast! Only 3 more weeks of school and then I'm off to the beach and my first clinical experience.

Bad news: It's flying by so fast that there is endless amounts of work to be done and I never have time to update this thing.

We got lucky and had a few days off for APTA national conference (which we were encouraged to attend in Tampa, FL). However, my Aunt Amy and my cousin Alejandra came into town (at home) so I made a special trip to see them for a bit.

To Nann and Pops: When hugging Ale good-bye, she asked "When am I going to see you again?" I said, "I don't know. Not for a long time." and she said "At nann and pops' house. I will see you with Nann and Pops." She is supposed to send a hug from me to you. :)

Here's a picture. Hugs and Good fishing to everyone. :)

This is the song that never ends...

My oh my! It's been so long since I have last posted, and I blame it on the hectic summer schedule they have us on. All I want to do is be at the pool, Canada, or the beach, but instead I spent my Saturday studying all day long. We had tests on Friday that were hard, so I am just going to give some advice on incontinence and hopefully I will have some fun information or stories for next time!

Stress incontince = when you pee when you sneeze

Did you know a PT can fix these problems? For the past few weeks we've studied women's health PT which focuses on pre-natal, post-partum, delivery, incontinence, and sexual dysfunction. One of the big things we emphasize is Kegals. Most people don't even know they have these muscles. These are the muscles in the pelvic floor that you contract whenever you need to go to the bathroom but can't get to one immediatley. They're your "hold it" muscles. Sure enough, these muscles work just like the abdominals or biceps, the more you work them, the stronger that they'll get. Try quickly contracting your pelvic floor muscles 10 times and then hold one contraction for 5 seconds 5 times. Do this 8-10 times a day. These exercises only take one minute to do, and you will be able to see improvements in as little as two weeks. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!

I am not too crazy about women's health, but honestly it's a great practice that can really change the lives of women, their unborn children, and their partners.

Carpal tunnel Syndrome

So, it's been a week since we've gotten back for summer term. Because these weeks fly by, I am going to be giving more PT advice, and less advice about what kind of tequila to put in a homemade margarita. Maybe it will keep me focused? After a  wonderful long break of traveling to Williamsburg, spending quality time with the momster, and finishing the wine tour of NC, I am back to the wild and wonderful for a few months to finish up summer term before being sent out on my first clinical. here's my tid-bit of information for today:

If you have pain while typing for a long period of time, you may have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (google it). My quick fix solution: STOP TYPING. I mean it. Take a break from your day every 6 minutes to stand up, roll your shoulders back, stretch, move your wrists around, and return to work. This takes about 20 seconds and you will see your symptoms greatly improve.

Next week's topic: Helping to keep your pee in.

Easter Break

So, one of the perks of having a boyfriend close to home is that he can take me out for fun day trips. This time, he took me to Gregory Vineyards (http://www.gregoryvineyards.com/) in Angier NC. This is a mom and pop vineyard. They only produce and sell locally. The land was in the family so the man just turned it into a vineyard for fun. We had a tour from the winemaker, a wine and cheese tasting, and then the owner took us on a ride in his 1924 Ford Model T ....I felt like I was thrown back in time! Afterwards we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and Titanic in 3D. Overall, I am very lucky to be dating such a great guy. :)

CALZONES...GF

My lovely friend Amanda and I celebrated the beginning of Easter break by having drinks (she's a lovely bartender....gotta love weekend jobs..) and homemade gluten free calzones from scratch...
We used Jule's Baking flour and recipe and they turned out TO DIE FOR...she couldn't even tell a difference!

http://www.julesglutenfree.com/

Too much studying CAN hurt you...

After a lovely jog and some gym time, I stopped by school to pick up my textbook...it's about 3" thick and as I was taking it into my car, my knee hit my elbow, which hit my textbook, which busted my lip. Proof that studying can hurt....

I think I need to become more coordinated....

Debridement!

Today we learned how to clean and pack wounds using grapefruits, scalpels, dressings, and sterile personal protective equipment. It was fun getting to pretend that the grapefruit was a wound and we had to cut the rind off to the skin and not break into the juice or pulp. Here's a picture of two of my classmates!

Warm Weather

So this past week I actually got a study redness form sitting outside. I hear it's supposed to get chilly for a bit, but I am really hoping this weather stays. We just finished the last set of quizzes for the semester. Now just a big skills test on electrical therapy and it'll be time for Easter break. Today, after completely detoxing my apartment, I made banana gluten free muffins, with applesauce, homemade from scratch spinage and artichoke dip, and then amanda came over and made vanilla cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese icing and chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate raspberry icing, all gluten free, for a potluck. It was so nice to relax a bit AND then watch UNC squeeze by. Sorry I forgot to take pictures, but here's a funny UNC one.

Post-Spring Break Maddness

In the race to the Quiz 3 after spring break, I have yet to update my favorite blog followers on my travels. In the interest of time, here are some pictures!

1. DC with my girls. KKG unites for a night in DC...except it thunderstormed so it turned into a night of red wine and PJs

• UNC beat Duke....and all was right with the world. Rushing franklin st. is so much fun...especially when you have the hives

Then I completed my first golf game! (with my free clubs, $20 golf bag, $2 putter, and $4 goodwill skort)

Last but not least I spent some wonderful time shopping with my mother...no pictures but much needed.

Will update after quizzes!!!

LOVE You!

A week without tests....

So this week marks the first week without testing! We went from Quizzes one week, to midterms the next week, to skills checkouts last week! Phew...Now all this tired graduate student has to do is prep. for class, write a literature review, and get together her community wellness project to present, and then it's SPRING BREAK!

Okay, so we're all thinking of crazy kids at the beach drinking waaay too much beer and staying up with glowsticks at a rave. Let's remember, this isn't an undergraduate spring break, this is a graduate school spring break. My amazing and hopefully relaxing week will go as follows:

• Frolicking in Washington DC with two of my sorority sisters for a reunion
• Watching UNC beat Duke (hopefully)
• A girls night with my mom
• Time to play tennis
• Cable television
• Hopefully seeing some in-town friends

All of that blanketed with an electric stimulation worksheet due that's worth 20% of my grade, a final draft of a literature review, preparation for our community wellness project....So I guess there is no rest for the weary. Just a brief pause and a margarita...

Speaking of margaritas it was national margarita day last week....we decided to celebrate...

Happy Birthday Pops!

Happy Birthday to my Pops!
This blog post is dedicated to you! Thanks for teaching me the finer points of life, including but not limited to:

• Super-sized chocolate milkshakes and grilled cheese sandwiches
• The right time to flip a pancake
• Real women hike to Scrabble lake
• Pie is the key to happiness

And last (for now) but not least:

• Don't go to bed with your socks on!!!!

Valentine's Day

So in high school I hated this holiday. Every single girl with a "boo" or boyfriend paraded around school with a stuffed animal or balloons...well now it' s my turn. I think he did good, don't you? Yay for boyfriends who care about you and brightening up a rainy, study-filled, stressed out Valentines Day!

Birthday Evidence

Just to show you I am alive and midterms aren't killing me, my friend Amanda made me a cake to celebrate my birthday. Gluten-free of course! Jen, Jamie, Amanda, Sam, and Lauren really made my birthday special away from home. Thanks guys!

Happy Birthday to Me...

So, today is my birthday. Sadly I am up early, going to class from 9 to 4:30 with two 30 minute breaks. I guess this is the life of a grad student. Also, I have been blessed to have my birthday during mid-terms week, awesome. Which means there are never enough hours in the day, or sleep to be had. I just wanted to take some time this morning to thank everyone who thought of me on my birthday. My Nann and Pops, Aunt Mary, Aunt Amy, Mammaw and Papaw, Mom and Dad and my Braxton. You guys sure make me feel special and loved. Hopefully I will get to see all of you very soon and I will be more rested and less stressed.

As for new things I've done lately, I've decided to start training for another 5k. We'll see if this one keeps going. ;)
Love and Hugs,
Ashley

Swimming!

Who would've thought I would be swimming in January? Well, it has been surprisingly sunny and warm lately (minus yesterday where it freak snowed). I have been trading in the treadmills for swim trunks and goggles. It has been a nice change because i was getting bored. So this was my new thing this week. We'll see how next week goes! I feel like a fish in water! Please don't let me out of that pool!

Potato Soup

So, after pilates some friends and I have been getting together and cooking dinner. It was really fun last night to re-live our middle school and high school music days. We had a dance-off where I tired to show my "moves". Hahaha. It's been really nice getting together with everyone. Having friends makes living in Wheeling not as bad. This weekend I am lucky because my parents are coming up to visit me. Well, they aren't coming to see me, I am actually going to see them. The real reason for travel is that they're coming to pick up the dog from Grandma/Grandpa daycare, but I'll take that as coming to visit me. I wish they'd come up to wheeling because one of my favorite restaurants is here and I would love to show it to them. They just don't have a Quaker Steak back home. There is also lots to do here, and it's close enough to Pittsburgh where we could do something fun, but they're only going to be around here for one night, so I guess I will share the glory with Paden City. It will just be nice to have them around for a bit. I am finding that my friends are helping with the adjustment so it's not as bad as it has been. Well, I am off to an advising meeting soon. I left my giant 3" binder at home so I've been trying to get done what I can without the lifeline.

Pilates

So this week I've decided to help some PT students out with their research and do a pilates class 2x a week for 6 weeks. While I am sore enough from last times, we'll see how going back today goes. Apparently our director's wife is a world-renowned pilates instructor, training the Russian ballet and this study is supposed to use her training and measure of it effects posture, balance, and muscle length in 6 weeks. This is pretty cool and since I will soon be assigned research, its important that I help other people out with theirs. Here's to pilates!

This Week's Challenge

So as you all know I am trying to learn something new every day. Well, I actually end up accomplishing that in school, but this week I am going to try something new. Usually I stick to my soup and microwave dinner diet..you know...things that are easy to just grab and go. Starting Friday, I have decided that I am going to try and cook dinner every night this week. I am hoping this will help me hone my cooking skills a bit, and also give me a little bit of a mental break.

As for today, I am getting ready to go to school and go over some stuff about our two patient cases. One is a patient with Cystic Fibrosis the other has had a lumbar spinal fusion after falling on the job. So, I have a week to learn the ins and outs of Worker's Compensation and all of that legal jargon before quizzes on Friday. Having Monday off is going to be really nice, seeing as it will give me extra time to prepare... AND watch movies and drink wine at night. Not a bad combination if I do say so myself.

Also, It has been blizzard-ing the past two days and I am happy to report that the snow has stopped for now! The high today is going to be 25 and that is amazing!!! I pretty much work side-by-side with my electric heater, I am trying not to turn into a popsicle. Though, if I had to turn into a popsicle it would be one of those Firecracker Rocket Pops with the red-white-blue. The white was always the best part
.

New Year, New Beginnings

To my dear grandparents,
I promised I would update this more, so I have a new theme for this blog. I have decided to write about all of the good news and new things I have learned or experienced.
So far, I have...

1. Driven in the snow for the first time
2. Toured Pittsburgh
3. Learned new cooking recipes
   
4. Learned all about Cystic Fibrosis and Respiratory Physical therapy

Even though this does not seem like a lot, I feel like I am starting to really come into my own. I've chosen to work on my final research project by validating a tool to measure posture by comparing the numbers that it gets with the measurements from an X-ray. Also, I recently found out that I am going to be home this summer for my first clinical education experience. I am really excited that things are starting to look up. This weekend is a long weekend, in which I plan on studying for quizzes next week, cooking and baking more, and getting my oil changed. I know this doesn't really sound amazing, but I can already tell this semester is going to fly by fast, as it should. I will try to update with new information as I learn it. We're starting low back pain tomorrow and reading chest X-rays. If I hear anything about prevention, or any fun facts, I will let you know!
Love,
Ashley