On reading...

I know that the day to day updates have been well...not so day to day since I started my pediatric clinical rotation. Suffice to say that it's been going wonderfully and I only have two weeks left! But more on that in another post.

I had an idea that stemmed from a while back, when I joined the web community Shelfari, a place where you can create a virtual bookshelf for yourself. I haven't really updated my page in awhile, but I recently was thinking about a group I'd joined on the site called the 50 Book Challenge. The group was formed due to this quote by Apple president Steve Jobs regarding the Amazon Kindle:

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

The 50 book challenge was basically a place for people to set a reading goal for the year then track their progress.

The whole notion of reading is a deep-rooted one for me. Growing up, I was voracious reader - no, really, I mean voracious. I was already beginning to read by the time I started kindergarten, and I spent the next 12 years of my public school education gobbling up every single book I could find. I went through spurts - the young adult pop novels...Baby-Sitters Club, Sweet Valley High, the teen horror novels...Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine, historical fiction, the classics - you name it. When I was in 5th and 6th grade, my best friend at the time, Rachel, and I had contests with each other to see who could go through an author's entire repertoire first - we tackled L.M. Montgomery (of Anne of Green Gables fame), Beverly Cleary and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

This crazy love of reading continued right up until college. It was this love of reading that helped me get nearly straight A's in high school, that got me into undergrad, that helped me through the Honors Program at Western. But during my time at Western something completely unexpected happened - I got BUSY. Classes, projects, my involvement with the campus minstry - these things became my calling and whatever reading I was doing was more for class and less for me. Sadly, this became a habit. I made it out of undergrad, through two years of working full time and back to graduate school and even though I tried to read for pleasure other things also occupied my brain and my time. It wasn't that I didn't love to read anymore - I did - I just didn't make the time for it.

Throughout all of this, I started keeping a "Books to Read" list in a small yellow notebook that fit in my purse. The aim was to have this when I went to the library, so I could find books on the shelf I was interested in. I still loved reading book reviews, jotting down titles, even if I didn't always make the time to get to them. That list has grown and grown and I'm now in the process of digitizing it - adding it to my "should" list on All Consuming and it's sparked something in me to rediscover and reclaim my love of reading.

I've rediscovered my love of used book stores, the well stocked and low priced book section at our new nearby St. Vincent de Paul store. Maybe the Kindle is great for some, but me, I love to snuggle up and page through a good old fashioned paper novel.

So begins my own 50 Book Challenge. I'm hoping to post progress as I go. I am also borrowing from my friend Janet a quasi-reading plan. She told me a while back that she was hoping to read a book of fiction, a non-fiction book and then a classic and begin the cycle again. That sounds like a great plan so I hope to hop on board with that one too. Without further ado - book 1 :)

1. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb (3/7/10)
Still not sure how I feel about this one. Definitely a tragic heroine, who is good at making mistakes over and over, but who life has not paid any favors to either. Morally, there was a lot in the book that I didn't agree with either, which my have contributed, but at the same time, the picture painted of Dolores, and the time she lived in (1950s-1980s) was incredibly realistic.

Up Next: Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
On Deck: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

How fast the quarter has flown by!

I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but I'm finding myself with only a week to go in finishing my first 11-week clinical affiliation! It's been a great experience and part of me is really sad to see it coming to an end.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous before starting this affiliation. Like I've mentioned in the past, we have to do three different long affiliations in three different settings. Since I worked in acute care as an aide for several years, and am wanting to go into pediatrics and love neurology I've always felt more confident and excited about my rehab and acute clinicals in the winter and spring. That, of course left outpatient orthopedic, the area in which I had the least experience. Many consider this to be the "easiest" setting and we'll see as my clinicals go on whether this is the case. For me though, without a lot of experience or ever having been exceptionally athletic (unlike most of my classmates), I thought it would turn out to be a huge challenge. Well, it was challenging, but in a good way - it made me think and use my reasoning. I saw patients of all ages and diagnoses, different body regions, different personalities. My CI was great and the clinic was a supportive, comfortable environment to learn and grow in. And growth is huge - I know that I've grown a ton in my ability to be a confident, efficient therapist, though I'm not fully there yet.

As for my next two clinicals, I've had some news there too. Starting the 4th of January I'll be at Valley Children's Therapy, which is part of Valley Medical Center in Renton. I just received a packet from them with tips to prepare and even a preliminary schedule - wow! I'm excited to finally be working in pediatrics, and having shadowed the school therapist here in Enumclaw for a couple of days while my CI was on vacation made look forward to it even more. It will definitely be good for my creativity! This spring I'll be at Emanuel Hospital in Portland. I got an email from the person who will be CI there letting me know that he just accepted a new position working acute (as in just stabilized) trauma and burns - he then asked a few questions to see if he thought I'd be able to handle that environment. Long story short, he just officially confirmed the internship which is exciting. I think those settings are really going to push me, especially since Emanuel is a level 1 trauma center, putting it on par with Harborview, but I'm actually really excited for them.

It's going to be an exciting few months before graduation in June!

Updates...The First Clinical

It's been a busy few weeks as I've settled into my clinical here at Performance PT in Enumclaw. Hard to believe but I'm starting the fourth week of my clinical (my third here since I spent the first week in the Bonney Lake clinic). Next week is already midterm! So far things are going really well. The clinic is very small, made up only of my clinical instructor, a physical therapist assistant and the receptionist...and well me too right now. While some at the Bonney Lake were warning me about how slow and quiet it is, I've actually found it to be really refreshing and a great place to learn because the pace isn't crazy hectic. My CI has been slowly giving me more and more to do and taking less of a direct role. The first evaluations he did while I watched, then I did the interview and he did the tests, then I did it all and he sat back. Today I evaluated a patient on my own while he was doing treatment on someone else, did the interview, all the tests and measures, came up with a preliminary diagnosis and showed them how to do a few easy exercises to get started. I know that this is what I've spent the last two years taking classes and training for, but let me tell you, to finally do it all by myself, just me and the patient, felt really good! I know that I'll still be relying on my CI for a many things...especially with more complex patients, or trying to get creative with advancing treatment plans, but my eval this morning was a great confidence booster. I'm really looking forward to these next six weeks and I continue to grow in my skills and follow my patients to discharge :) Lunch is almost over so this is a quick post, but it was time to fill everybody in - more later!

7 Quick Takes... Vol. 7

1. It's amazing how quickly time has flown! What was my fabulous 5 week break is down to only three days. Monday, I'll start my first clinical affiliation at Performance Physical Therapy. I just talked to the head of clinical education there (also known as the CCCE) about how long I'll be at the Bonney Lake and Enumclaw clinics. Turns out I'll only be in Bonney Lake for a week and then at the Enumclaw clinic for the other nine weeks. That will be very nice for my commute, my gas mileage and and my case study project! I'm a little apprehensive about remembering everything but I think it will be a great learning experience overall.

2. We're doing our Lifeteen Fall Retreat early this year, as a kickoff event for the year. With the economy the way it is, and budgets pinched, Tina, our Youth Minister, decided it would be a good idea to hold the first retreat onsite at St. John's, charging the teens less and do our spring retreat away. I actually think the retreat will go really well there. I'm excited for it, our topic is Life: Through God's Eyes and deals with respecting life from conception to natural death. Needless to say, we'll be talking about some sticky subjects in there, so any and all prayers are appreciated!

3. Speaking of the retreat, I got my first chance to play with Windows Movie Maker to make a move about Life. What a cool program! Here's my little project if anyone is interested, I had a lot of fun putting it together and was pretty pleased with the final product :)
**Disclaimer: With the exception of the pictures with quotes on them, which are my own photography, all others were gathered off of Google Images, and the movie pages for "The Nativity Story" and "The Passion of the Christ", I didn't get official permission, and don't have the citations on the video, so please don't distribute. Thanks!**


4. I've been upping the hiking lately and it's been fun, though a little humbling about how not-in-shape I am right now. Last Friday my sister, our friend Krista and myself packed up and headed to Mt. Ranier National Park to hike the Palisades Lakes trail. 7.5 miles round trip, we got to stop at 4 different lakes, get great views of two more and see some beautiful meadows and creeks. However, always remember that when hiking into a lake basin you need to hike back out which usually means up. Our calves weren't loving that last 0.5 miles of switchbacks back up to the car after a long day of hiking but it was well worth it!

The view from the end of the trail, you could actually see Baker but it didn't really turn out on the pic

Lower Palisades Lake
The view from the shores of Upper Palisades Lake, with the Palisades themselves to the left
Me trying to be artsy

And after all the hiking my brothers and sister and I have been doing this summer my mom got bit by the bug too. We found a hike that without too much elevation gain to be nice to her knees and headed out to Franklin Falls on the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The falls were gorgeous!
That's I-90 Westbound up there...who knew such a gem existed underneath?
Marcus the Monkey, climbing up the rockface
Mom by the falls
Yours truly :)

5. I haven't gotten a chance to go letterboxing in the last couple of weeks and wanted to get a trip in before starting the clincal but no such luck. I did, however, stop by the art section of the UW Bookstore last Monday and walk away with rubber carving block, linoleum cutters and x-acto knife. I think it's time to retire the store-bought stamp and carve my own signature stamp! I originally had a dove because of all it's associate meanings - Holy Spirit, purity, peace, flight....and I think I'll stick to that. I found a cool pic of a descending dove in my Catholic Source Book and will probably use that. I'll post a picture if it turns out nice!

6. I was in Seattle last Monday for the annual luncheon our department puts on for those of us who have received the McGee Fellowship. Maureen McGee, a former professor, has donated money to provide a scholarship to one entering student. Every year, those of us that have received it meet for lunch with her, the faculty that is on the selection committee and the new recipient for the year. It was a lot of fun, and nice to see some of the faculty, hard to believe I won't really see them again until graduation!

7. Last Wednesday I also got to take part in something that as a future PT is now very near and dear to my heart, Fall Prevention Day. Together with my professor Patti, we headed to the Maple Valley Community Center and gave a presentation about the importance of fall prevention and how exercise can be beneficial. We then invited the older adults to participate in two screening tests that would help identify their risk of future falls and provide information on visiting their doctor or physical therapist if they were seen to be high risk. For anyone out there, if you have a loved one who is older and has balance difficulties, encourage them to go to their doctor or physical therapist for balance testing and exercises. You just might save someone's life and independence!

An Interesting Film

I found a link to this on another blog I follow and decided to check it out. The film is called The Butterfly Circus and is part of a project encouraging writers and directors to create short films about hope. Any of you familiar with the movie Bella will recognize actor Eduardo Verastegui playing one of the lead roles in the film.

*For a complete spoiler-free experience, watch the film (20 minutes long) first then read on...*

I really enjoyed this movie! Some of the comments on the site decried its simplicity and I agree that the story was pretty simple, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. While this may not be ground-shattering Oscar-winning material, the theme of the movie was powerful. At first glance the movie might seem to be about disability or Will's learning how to swim, but I think his character serves as a metaphor or a symbol to get us all to look deeply into what holds us back. What is it that we don't like about ourselves? That we don't value? That we don't see as "magnificent" or beautiful? And most importantly, how do we let that idea hold us back from being the full men and women that God created us to be, so that we can go forth and love others in this world?

The movie was not explicitly Christian per se, but anyone familiar with Eduardo Verastegui's story knows about his deep and fervent Catholic faith. The author of the original blog also posted a link to website of the man playing Will, Nick Vujicic and it's clear that he too is a devout Christian. Having that faith in God teaches us much about our purpose in life, which is not to focus inward, on ourselves, but outward. If we know whose image we are made in, if we embrace that, if we understand our faults and seek to improve them, if we try to always love others then we'll inspire hope.

Lastly, I really liked that the film didn't play into rampent stereotypes of disability, at least not as much as many others. This is becoming a bigger and bigger issue for me the more I study physical therapy and prepare to work with a population of people in all sorts of situations. In as much character developement as you can get in 20 minutes (not a whole lot) Will wasn't portrayed as completely helpless, he had strengths and faults like anyone else, and when he chose to turn his life around he did inspire hope, but so did each and every member of the Circus, so that he wasn't singled out as a perfect "beacon of inspiration". If anything, it showed clearly what can happen to people when we put our labels on them, our beliefs about their condition, our limitations on what they can do, and it showed that every human being has infinite value and ability to change the world - and that's as powerful a pro-life message as any in my book!

Seven Things I Love...

I was tagged...twice! By Cheri and Val

So the rules say I get to write down seven things that I love then pass this on to seven more friends, here we go!

1. Working in youth ministry, there is nothing more incredible then giving a talk/teaching, or watching during Adoration and seeing the look on a teen's face when they really, truly "get it", then watching their lives transform.

2. The moment after a killer hike when you reach the top and look out and over the edge and realize you're capable of a lot more than you think

3. Music - singing along, praying through it and with it, playing it...it has an a way to move something inside you like nothing else

4. Making things out of yarn! Mostly knitting and crocheting, but it's so cool to see how with a few loops and a little time, a long string of yarn can be transformed into something functional and beautiful

5. Sunrises and sunsets and the way they paint the sky

6. The Mass, the more you learn and understand about what's happening, the more powerful it becomes.

7. Studying the human body, or any biology. It amazes me that so many scientists are atheists because the more I learn about our bodies or the world around us, the more I'm amazed by God's creative power!

Okay, now your turn...I tag: Sabrina, Debbie, Lara, Erin, Onica...I think everyone else has already been tagged :) - Go!

7 Quick Takes...Vol. 6

1. I've been pretty quiet on the blogosphere lately, mainly relaxing after getting done with classes. It's still surreal that I'm completely done with the academic portion of my training and that it's all clinicals from here on out. That and that I may not see some of my classmates until graduation, which is now less than a year away!

Aww...aren't we cute?Actually, this is probably a better representation of our class...

2. Speaking of classmates, I met up with three others at one of their homes for some good old fashioned blackberry picking. We used them to make jam and each of us got to take home 3 jars. It turned out very good and I've already used some for a PB and J sandwich

Laura and I sorting berries



The delicious result of our handiwork
(Photo credits: Lindsay Koppes)

3. Two weekends ago we had our girls retreat on relationships. It was a great success! We had 12 teens attend and they had a lot of fun, as well as contributing lots of wisdom and ideas to our conversations. We try to make this retreat one of discussion and thought as opposed to a lot of teaching at them - to this end, most of our themes are really directed to issues they deal with in life. We then put a faith perspective on it so they learn more about what the Church teaches and why, and then put it in a real context. I look forward to this retreat every year!

4. Planning has also started for our Fall Retreat. It should be a great and thought-provoking topic and so far the planning is going great. More info on this one to come...

5. Weddings, weddings everywhere! On the 22nd one of my friend Katie from high school got married and on the 29th two friends from college, Caroline and Christian tied the knot as well. Next weekend, the family will be packing up and heading to Walla Walla for the wedding of my sister's best friend Melissa, in which she is the maid of honor. Blessings to all these new couples!

6. Yesterday, Andrea and her friend Krista and I headed for a hike up to Poo Poo Point on Tiger Mountain in Issaquah (no, it's not named for that, it's named for the sound of train whistles, silly!). The newspaper article we read had said the hike was 5.5 miles round-trip, try 4.5 miles ONE way! The hike reminded me that I am quite out of shape, especially the switchbacks, but we powered on and the view from the top was well worth it! It was a beautiful day and Poo Poo Point is a popular launching spot for paragliders and hanggliders. We were treated to quite a show to complement the views of Lake Sammamish, Issaquah and even Mt. Baker.

After reaching the top!!


The beautiful view! (The body of water is Lk Sammamish, you can see Squak Mtn immediately left and Cougar Mtn in the distance on the left)

Paragliders - what a sight!


Could this be the real Poo Poo Point?
(Photo credits: Krista Currer)

7. It was a real treat to have my brother Eric home for a week and a half! He is currently living and teaching in Boston so it was nice to have him here for awhile. He flew out this morning and will hopefully be back around Christmas time.