On break.

To update: The last three months of school were spent with me living in Odessa at my parents lakehouse. I love my parents and I love their house. . .but I was not home. I was not home--where Zach is--AND I had a 1-1.5 hour commute to and from work every day. I was not home, I had the horrible commute, AND my second internship was not nearly as enjoyable as my first. Needless to say, those three months were the worst.

But now, not only is internship over with but I also GRADUATED! WOOO-OOOOOO. As of August 19th (graduation conferral date) I am no longer a full-time student. Not only have a I graduated, but I have also found a JOB! The job part actually happened before graduation so that was nice. **pending I pass NBCOT boards** I will be in Palm Coast as a full-time Occupational Therapist working with children in an outpatient clinic and adults in inpatient therapy. I am super excited and really hoping I pass those boards! USA grads have a 98% chance of passing the boards, but I'm still super nervous. I could easily be that 2%. Also, we are all a little unsure if that 98% means the first time you pass or just that you pass after all your attempts.

I am so excited to finally be back at home with this guy. We are super pumped for the next chapter in our marriage and SUPER pumped that we will both have jobs! 

I take the boards on September 13th, until then I am studying, and realizing how much more productive my life is when I have a structured schedule. I feel like I should be using this time to travel or do something amazing. But realistically spending the money on travel right now would be silly and the amazing thing I should be doing is studying for the NBCOT so I only have to take it once. 

There's mu update~! I am so happy to be able to say that I have finished my program at University of St. Augustine! Yayyy!

Bye. 

Tis Time.

Considering my last post was super depressing I probably amend it with a more positive post! Zach is pretty much back to 100%. That whole thing was super scary and I hated every minute of it. I learned that I am not that type of woman who can put on a fake smile and say, "Everything is fine, you will be fine." I learned that I am the type of woman that immediately thinks of ALL the possible horrible things that may be happening and think of  all the different ways that our lives could change. Blech. Perhaps over time I will get better at this; staying more positive when/if something scary happens to someone I love so so so much.

Taken over 7 years ago!

I am currently in my last week of my first Level II Fieldwork experience and I am super pumped for my week off! Interning at Brooks Rehab has been an amazing learning experience. I could totally imagine myself working for Brooks but only time will tell! I definitely can't imagine making the drive to Jacksonville every day. That took a toll on me.

Where I spent 3 whole months!

Over my break Zach and I are going to spend some time at a wonderful cabin in Andrews, NC that our gracious pastors are letting us stay in. We are going hiking, whitewater rafting, and exploring the little towns including Asheville, NC. We are both super excited and can't wait to get away from everything and just spend time with each other.

So excited to spend some time here!

After a wonderful week with Zach, we drive back to Florida and then it's time for KAGDUBS! Yes, I am so dang excited. Very few weekends have the ability to top these once-a-year trips with my favorite girls. I am sure hilarious times are in our near future.

From a past KAGDUBS.

 After KAGDUBs it will be time for my 2nd Level II Fieldwork rotation. Should be another great learning experience! I will be sure to write about it eventually. Probably in three months. . .

Bye!

Cryie

Life has been a whirlwind. In the past year + 4 days since I last wrote a post I have finished the didactic portion of Occupational Therapy school (without having to re-take one practical), I started my fifth (out of twelve) week of internship at Brooks Rehab Hospital in Jacksonville and within the last few days. . .experienced so much stress and sadness.

Love is a wonderful thing. I am so beyond happy that I am married to such a wonderful man and that he loves me and we love each other. But with that comes soon much hidden dependence. I say hidden because I don't realize it's there until something happens. This past week, something did happen. And when it did, my dependence on him became so loud and alarmingly clear.
A couple days ago, 5 to be exact, Zach came home from boxing annoyed because his tongue felt kinda numb. I insisted that he must have burnt it or that maybe he ate something he was kinda allergic to. That numbness slowly spread to his cheek, then the whole right side of his face. That is the point I began to break. One second, he was completely fine and healthy, then the next morning he wakes up with more numbness. WHAT'S HAPPENING!? I suspected Bell's Palsy. . . but also everything else. Because life is scary. And scary shit happens all the time. And it happens to anyone. Even the person you love most. I was at the hospital (interning) yesterday while Zach went to his primary doctor to get some feedback. His doctor referred him to a neurologist. Zach text me this information at work while I was in a hospital room waiting outside a patients room while they showered (not abnormal---it's an OT thing). The moment I read his text my mind started racing and I pretty much broke down. My instructor peaked in to check on me and make sure everything was going well with the patient. I guess he could tell something was off with my "yeahhh" response. . .I updated him/cried in his face because I have no tear-control and told him I would be fine. Needless to say I went home early that day because once I start crying I am basically physically unable to stop. This whole time Zach is trying to keep his cool and is doing an amazing job. Just trying to stay busy.
This morning we went to the neurologist and she confirmed that it (most likely) is Bell's Palsy. She was so certain that she went ahead and prescribed meds for Zach. She still wanted to schedule an MRI to make sure there isn't anything else going on. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until Friday, which to me seems like a year away. So for now Zach takes his meds and continues on with life. Right now he is at youth group and then he will come home. Friday he will have his MRI around three. . .and until then I will try and hold it together and believe it's Bell's Palsy which will eventually subside and everything will be back to normal.
When you love someone so much that their illness becomes your illness life gets so tricky. I feel like at that last sentence Zach might say, "Um, I'm pretty sure both sides of your face are working right now. . " but what I mean is, that damn dependence.  . . I depend on him to stay healthy because when he's not. . . I'm not. I get all headachey and cryie and my body feels all weird and tired and everything is out of sorts.

I love him and I am so happy that we are together. If you are the praying sort (or aren't and feel like now is a good time to try it out) please pray for swift and complete healing. . . and that when Friday at 3ish comes the MRI will show nothing but a completely healthy smart brain.

Thank you. We love you.