Welcome to Idaho

      I officially survived my first week of fieldwork. It was LONG and TIRING. By the way, Washington had a small tornado about an hour East of us on Wednesday night. It only destroyed an old dilapidated barn, but you would have thought it was an F5 tornado! They interviewed this farmer from morning to night going over and over what he saw when the tornado came through! Very funny to me.

      I have also learned this week that I have been pronouncing Colorado and Nevada wrong all of my life. Everyone picks up immediately that we are not from here. Imagine that!

      Also this week, we decided to go to the movies to see Letters to Juliet. We didn’t quite make it to the movies because I locked the keys in the car… while it was running! We had to call a locksmith which was not fun! Hahaha

      On Saturday morning we decided to go explore so we left to visit a place called Coeur d’alene, Idaho! (Chuck, I am quickly adding to my 50 x 50 list!) It is about 40 minutes from Medical Lake. We left around 9:30 for a day trip! It was so beautiful! The weather is still trying to adjust to the summer season. It is about 50 degrees here and very windy. Coeur d’alene is a resort town. It is actually hosting the ironman triathlon competition on June 27, which our small group leaders from Jackson happen to be coming for! The town boasts a beautiful lake where we actually saw someone kite surfing! They have a beautiful park which offers live music on specific nights during the summer. There is also a strip of unique boutique shops. We walked up and down through the shops and found a few gifts for our families! They have this wonderful toy store called Figpickels! I found Jacob a super hero starter kit! Packed with a red cape, wrist bands, stickers, and how to come up with your own superhero name! The town or the state is known for the Huckleberries they have. There are all these huckleberry jams, pepper jellies, and everything huckleberry you can think of! They also have a lot of local wines made in the area, which is also very unique! The town is so charming! We will definitely be frequenting this place throughout the summer!

      Next week at work, I will pick my one to one patient that I will spend a lot of time with and write a huge report on for the summer. I will also go over some OT assessments in depth and learn how to document in a psych hospital!

     Next weekend for Memorial Day, Katie, Erica, and I will be traveling to Tacoma, WA on Friday night to visit with Katy Ann and Ashley (two of our classmates). Saturday morning we will all get up really early and drive to the Hoh rainforest! It is a total of 8 hours away from Medical Lake! On Saturday night we will drive to FORKS, WA and stay in “Bella’s Cabin” at this family-owned place! I am sure I will have PLENTY of pictures to share from this trip also!

I hope all is well at home! Love and miss you all!

P.S. I am so proud of Joseph, BQ, Brett and Jeremy for their triathlon performance! I wish I was there to cheer them on, but I know they did have plenty of support and love there!

I am still amazed at the beauty of the weather rolling in over the valley!

Me, Erica, and Katie celebrating our first Friday night!

Entering Idaho! The western border of Idaho is beautiful! I dunno about the rest of the state! 

Chuck, I am quickly adding to my 50 x 50!

Beautiful Lake Coeur d'alene.  It was windy and cold this day!

They offer jet ski rentals, water skiing, hiking, camping, etc. etc. 

This is also home to the ironman triathlon on June 26-28!

One of the many beautiful boats we saw!

We watched in awe as someone was kite surifng! they have their own beach inside their downtown center area!

The beautiful park! they have live music and picnic spots for the summer time.  Such a romantic city!

Local Wine Tasting room in the strip of shops!

Rusty Moose

So the past two days have been smooth.  I was asked if I was an alien or a vampire because of the color of my eyes.  Our Walmart trip was interesting...ha this is a VERY small town.  I think it makes Mississippi look good.  We had dinner our frist night at the Rusty Moose! hahaha.  I got to watch a horticulture therapy group.  The patients come down and water plants for money that goes into their account so that they can buy candy or "smokes".  Another work group allows them to do "piece work" where they can put together coffee packets, shred paper, or fold towels for money.  I have learned how to play seven new card games since I have been here.  I spent 3 hours on the ward yesterday.  We are to observe what goes on and write a report.  I just sat and talked to the patients, and they taught me how to play card games!  Many of the people admitted to the hospital have come from severe drug use and their mind is just gone. "Say no to Drugs!". After the next two weeks, I am going to be set free and will develop into having the schedule of an entry-level OT!  Exciting! This weekend we are thinking about taking a day trip to Cour de alene which is about 45 minutes away.  Friday night dinner at Zola and then off to see Letters to Juliet!  I miss everyone at home very much!  I love you all!  I guess I may not get to update again until next Monday because the library does not open again until then!

This is the rain coming in over the valley! beautiful!

How many deer can you spy? This is my breakfast company.

More deer

I survived!

             So I survived my first day of fieldwork! Erica and I flipped for which supervisor we got because we were both afraid of one of the supervisors! I got Connie, so I will be working with adult psych patients. They are all very close to my age, some are a few years older! It is kind of scary. They just seem like a crowd you would see out on the streets in a large city. I will be leading my own group at week 7. At week 3, I will choose one of the patients to do a one-on-one treatment with, and I will also perform an extensive case study on them. I will do a lot of evaluations this summer. My first assignment is to spend four hours on the ward by myself just “hanging” out with the patients and getting to know them. Everyone here is very laid back, and it is hard to distinguish between the staff and the patients sometimes. The only difference is that the staff wears nametags! I will be leading a lot of groups with my supervisor. Most everyone that works at the hospital has a lot of family members that work there also. I feel like this summer will be very challenging for me in a lot of ways, but in a good way. I am exhausted after just my first day of work. P.S. in the lunch line today they asked me if I wanted soup or a sandwich… I told them a sandwich. I got cheese and bread. I even asked for extra mustard. Ha. Needless to say, I did not eat my cheese sandwich and I was starving by the end of the day! I will get a chance to see forensic psych and geriatric psych. We also have assignments to tour the group home in downtown Spokane and to attend two support groups. One is for depression and the other is for schizophrenics. I am anxious to see what the summer has in store! Everyone has pegged us from the beginning that we are from the south.


I will leave you with a new but inappropriate joke my I heard today from a patient:

Why is Dolly Parton afraid of the jungle?

Answer: the booby traps!

Arriving in Spokane!

So the trip went smoothly.  We had no hiccups in the travels except that I lost my gray sweater, which Joseph found.. and my bag was 15 pounds over the weight limit!  Haha here are some awesome pictures I have taken along the way!

Mountain ranges.. and then they just stop and there is a city at their base

Snow patches

Mt Hood

The land is in patches for some reason

Mount St Helen with Mt Ranier in the background

                                                         The front view of our house.  When we got there, they gave erica and I each a room key and a house key.  The room keys only opened one room, the other room key did not work.  I spent the first night of our visit on the floor in this house!  It is facing the forensics unit.. lovely.

The back view of our house

My bedroom with views out over the lake.  At night you sleep to the sound of bugs and crickets outside your window.  There is no air conditioner or internet... we discovered that we have fuzzy ABC and a VHS player! Our Monday and Wednesday nights will be spent at the public library using the internet.  They are only open 2 nights a week!  This is what they mean when they say small town USA.

My bedroom desk

                                                                    Our living room

Kitchen

The view from the back porch... It has the most beautiful morning sunrises.  I am amazed at the beauty God created!  I will definitely be taking some sunrise pictures.  I am still on MS time so I go to bed early here and wake up early!

Some more views from the house. That is the hospital in the upper right corner

The mule deer are EVERYWHERE.. they eat breakfast with us haha

On our way into Spokane, the metro area.  The mountains make for a beautiful backdrop!

 

The waterfalls at Riverfront Park! the pictures definitely do not do them justice.. people get killed here alot because of the power of the rapids!

The water fountain that all the kids play in at the beautiful park! the fountain goes as high as the ring on top!

The great Spokane clock tower

The tourist picture

The ginormous radio flyer wagon!

Of course I had to get my picture made on it!

Wonderful day!

Flight Schedule

From JAN (6:00) to Dallas Fort Worth (7:30).......American Airlines Flight 2750
From Dallas Fort Worth (9:35) to Portland (11:35)........American Airlines Flight 1185
From Portland (1:35) to Spokane (2:40)...............American Airlines Flight 7548

Mothers

So this is the week following up to Mother's day...

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my sister and I with my mom.

       I am so thankful for my mom and ALL that she has done.  She was married at 18 and then had me when she was only 20.  I cannot imagine that now; I would have a four year old!  She was young enough to play with me and close enough to be my friend, but never failed to be my parent.  She had my sister seven years later, and she was strong enough to raise another little boy, 21 years after I was born.  She has loved me through every stage of my life including the emotional teenage years. She fixed us dinner every night, even though then I only wanted to go out to eat and did not appreciate her cooking or her effort.  She has worked from 8:00-5:00 everyday since she was 20, while raising children and taking care of our family.  She supported me in decisions I made, even though they might not be the best choices.  She let me learn for myself.  She was always proud of my good grades, which made me want to achieve even more.  She helped me get through college financially and even after I am married.  She was at every football game when I was a cheerleader at State, and she dealt with highschool cheerleading and competitive cheerleading just so I could go as far as I did in college cheerleading.  She overcame her parents' divorce to have a happy marriage for herself.  When my dad hunted all of the time when I was little, she was the single parent.  She was my wedding planner in my wedding, and stayed up LATE hours with me and carried the stress with me.  My mom.  She allowed me to help pick our family church when I was just in middle school, just so I would like the church we went to.  I know she prayed for all of her children while we were growing up, so that we turned out to be godly people.  She has influenced me in so many ways that I now see coming out.  Since I have been married to Joseph, I find myself trying to cook like her and use her recipes.  When I get mad, I find myself acting just like she does!  I stand up for myself when there is conflict.  I cry like her at LITTLE things.  I try to plan out trips just like she did, even though joseph is used to just relaxing on vacation.  I love all of these little quirks! I can only hope to be as strong as her!  I love you momma!

Now, not only do I have one wonderful mother, but in the past year, I have gained two more wonderful mothers!  I am so thankful for the way they have molded Joseph to get where he is today!  He is such a gentleman and very kind to everyone.  He is a leader among everyone around him.  He was shown love growing up because of all of the support he had.  There was ALWAYS someone cheering him on no matter what he was doing!  Because of that, he is going to be a great father.  He is a strong Christian and has not strayed off the path too many times, and I know this all comes from the love and support of Mrs Corinne and Mrs Pam.  He had also sworn off girls right before he met me, good thing he got encouragement in that area!  Thank you for all that you have done!  I am honored to have gained two more beautiful women that I can call my family!



These are some quotes about moms that stood out to me!

"The mother, more than any other, affects the moral and spiritual part of the children's character. She is their constant companion and teacher in formative years. The child is ever imitating and assimilating the mother's nature. It is only in after life that men gaze backward and behold how a mother's hand and heart of love molded their young lives and shaped their destiny."

                                                                                     ~E.W. Caswell

"To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power."

~ Maya Angelou

OT 3

I have finished finals week...and I am officially an OT3!!! Only one more year!  Our class got together to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and our accomplishments!! We are all going to spend the next twelve weeks all across the nation.  We haven't spent more than a month apart in the past two years!

Senorita!

OT 3's! One more year!

Hahaha Good Memories!