Feeling so accomplished!

It's been a fantabulous break so far!
1. I made all 4.0's this semester! Which is the first time I've managed it in grad school. I definitely did a happy dance.
2. I finished my scarf! It's super pretty, and my friend C's promised to help me learn the crochet stitch to fix the oddities so I can wear both sides out if I want.
3. I learned the purl stitch! Way easier than I had feared.
4. We've been getting up ridiculously early to run! Rosie's learning to run on leash without being a jerk, fortunately. :-) She's super duper cute and fuzzy first thing in the morning, which is both good and bad. She is *not* the motivation to wake up.
5. The motivation to wake up is that Seth and I are doing two 5K's in October-- the Color Me Rad in Columbia and then the rUnDead run here in Charleston the following weekend! The latter is more like an obstacle course. I'm kinda excited.
5a. I am thinking seriously about doing a half marathon-- I really want to do the Princess Half Marathon at Disney in February, but with fieldwork, there's a good chance that won't happen, so we're looking into the feasibility of doing the half marathon here in Charleston-- it ends with Shrimp and Grits and supports the arts, and is a lot cheaper/closer to home/music friendly.

Aaaand that's about it! Not bad for a week of break.

There's also a sad note, in that one of my professors passed away unexpectedly. I unfortunately won't make it to his memorial service tomorrow, but I've been keeping his friends and family in my prayers. He was a good person, and I am sorry I never got to thank him in person for his help with fieldwork placements. Hopefully he knows. :-)

End of Summer Semester!

Summer semester is only one day away from being done! Rosie is glad, as well, as I am no longer taking over the couch with study materials. She did not approve:

I'm actually done with all my normal classes, but I am doing a constraint-induced movement therapy camp as a class as well (Camp Hand to Hands), and it is AMAZING! I get to work with a super cute child, who drives me nuts sometimes but is super sweet and fun overall, and their movements are getting SO much better! It's amazing to see the difference even a few days will make, as well as how much I've learned about how to deal with the child, and when to let them take a break or when to push. It's not 100%, obviously, but it's much better! Our group did Olympics day for the event:

I made a torch! I'm quite proud of it. :-)

And my classmates made another awesome banner as well as a flags! It was so much fun. All the days have been fun-- we have had a circus day, Disney day, and cartoon day, and tomorrow concludes with Jungle Day!

In other good news in our lives, I am officially staying in Charleston for my fieldwork!! I am so excited to get to stay with Seth and Rosie. As much as we love Norfolk, it's definitely nice that I'll be here for the full 27 months of the program! I am doing acute care for my first rotation, which I shadowed and discovered that I kind of loved right before I found out I had an acute care placement, and then I'm doing a pediatrics rotation for the second half! I'll be working primarily with kids with sensory problems and autism and other associated diagnoses, which is super exciting to me. I have a good sized reading list, but that's still super exciting!

I have another year of views like this outside my front door!

We went home this past weekend with assistance from my awesome parents to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday! She is an amazing lady-- she has seen and done so much, and continues to make beautiful art and be active in the community. The dinner was a ton of fun; we helped set up a little bit, and got to see lots of old photos -  including my parent's wedding invite and wedding pictures! Gotta love the styles of 1980 for the men's suits. :-D We also got to help Seth's mom with her house, and meet Jon's girlfriend and her two puppies! I learned a shaved Scottie dog looks like a mini Dante with stumpy legs.  Unfortunately, I forgot my phone literally every time I left the house, so I have no real photos-- hopefully family members will upload/post them soon! (Hint, hint.)

My birthday celebrations began super early this year! My parents presented me with an awesome saucer (bowl?) from my alma mater.

Love, love, love it! 

 

 

Rosie with the dish!

I totally love it, and it goes with my RMWC wedgewood dishes (technically ashtrays, but perfect for jewelry storage!) that I get to see daily. :-) I also have a Macon Teddy Bear!

So, yeah! We're going to go to the Summerville Farmer's Market to get some fabulous grits and corn meal, fresh ground, for my mother in law-- apparently the stash we had given her from Middleton Place was too big of a hit, and she had to share more than she had hoped to.

We also just realized we missed Rosie's birthday! It was yesterday, so we're not too late, but our baby girl is already two years old! We also decided that we would like to expand our family in the next year-- we're going to be looking for another doodle to adopt, we think. (No, we're not having a kid yet, please and thank you, despite my little cousin's wishes. Grad school and puppies are PLENTY of responsibility at the moment.) We're just going to keep our eyes open-- it will likely be after the wedding in November, just to help keep everything balanced, but we'd love to get Roo a playmate. <3 She really is the love of our lives.

Little Roo at 7 months!

Our tiny baby girl, right after coming home at 4 months,with her dragons. <3

I think those are all the updates for now! We're just enjoying life, and I'm getting ready to enjoy the break-- Rosie and I are likely going to just be out and about doing little things, and staying inside during the heat of the day so I can craft! I have plans to make lots of fun pillows this week, and to read! I'm reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and it is amazing, as well as a fast read. I need to finish Insurgent and The Hunger Games this break as well, and we're going to try to hit the beach again and go to do our harbor tour of Charleston while I don't have schoolwork or other crazy responsibilities.

Summer Semester Update

Seth and I at the Charleston Beer Festival with D!

Wow! We've been a lot busier than I realized this semester, between classes, going to the beach, and hanging out with friends, and just enjoying our lives. We live in Mount Pleasant now, and we LOOOOOVE it.

Our dock! This is at high tide...

Rosie loooooves the smells.

Our backyard view = tranquil escape.

Poor Seth was eating, but it's still cute of us.

To start the summer off, our friend T came to visit! She loves historical preservation, and had never been to Charleston, so we were stoked to help show her around. :-) We went to Middleton Place, took her to Shem Creek Park, and tried a couple new restaurants, including Andolini's, which has AWESOME pizza and Taco Boy with delicious tacos, of course! We also went to see Back to the Future at Waterfront Park in Mount P, which was so much fun! We found friends.

Cooper River Bridge at twilight, and the side of the screen.

We have been able to explore the parks around here some-- we've been to the beach a couple times, and I spent an afternoon working for the ALS 5K on the beach with the lovely C. C's gone walking with me (and Rosie) several times now. It's been so much fun! I love Charleston in the summer, especially when there's not that much heat compared to last year.

Beaching it up with C!

Seth's work has been going awesomely-- he loves it, which is about all we ask for. :-) He's learning a lot, and enjoying himself and the people he works with. Always a plus.

Relaxing on the dock after work at night with Rosie.

We did a painting class together!

I LOOOOOVE this semester. I'm working on a research project that I'm insanely passionate about, and have finally worked out how to do it. I should actually be working on that now rather than updating the blog, but, eh. I've also been tutoring for anatomy, which makes WAY more sense now, including why the heck origins and insertions of muscles are so important! Neuro is AMAZING, and I love it. It's just so much fun, and the people are so inspiring-- between CARES and this summer, I've found another passion of mine, which I didn't expect to love nearly as much as I do. Between classes and work, we've just had a wonderful summer with great food, lots of relaxation, and good time together.  We're going home in 2 weeks to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday-- so excited!

Our first Riverdogs game. :-) 

Rosie loves the crab pot... 

Rosie and I in Shem Creek.

It's not a super exciting life, but especially after the insanity of last semester, it's seriously been the perfect prescription. I just need to find out where I'll be on fieldwork in January, and it'll be truly perfect! We've had lots of small moments that have added up to awesomeness-- we signed up for the Color Run 5K in October, watched Rosie scare away a turkey vulture, have enjoyed swimming, played board games with friends, enjoyed a few new restaurants, and just spent time outside, loving the sunshine. Rosie's gotten a couple haircuts, and I just learned tonight that my longest hair is now 8 inches-- the minimum to donate! It needs to grow more to really be as long as it should be all over, but still-- that's way longer than I thought it was. I'm going to keep going for at least another few months. My goal is to grow it out until graduation, but we'll see if I make it that long; it may be gone well before then. :-) Even so, I'm excited! It's been a personal goal for ages, but I tend to get sick of it and chop it all off well before this point.

On that note, Rosie needs a walk, and I need to finish my homework-- the end of the semester is nigh!