Clinic's Approaching

It is quite hard to believe that I only have about 3 more full semesters of classes left in school.  We just finished our last summer that will be full of classes and studying, and the fall approaches as well as arterial lines, chest tubes, and PEG tubes.  It should be an interesting 8 weeks at River Region in Vicksburg.  And by interesting I mean terrifying.  There are few things that scare me more than accidentally pulling out a line that is inside a patient. But that is neither here nor there.

The Olympics 2012 in London have been keeping the Ross residence occupied... at least for the first couple of days and then I lost Steven.  He is a little sick of me wanting to watch it.  But I just can't get over people like Michael Phelps or Gabby Douglas.  This is what they have worked for their entire life, and the gold is what they have wanted, and they got it. I admire perseverance and dedication, especially when it is given to those who deserve it.  I am still utterly heartbroken for Jordyn Weiber who missed the chance to compete for an All-Around Gymnast medal by 2 tenths of a point just because she was in the top three from the USA, not the top two.  But she pulled herself together and nailed her team gymnastics performances.  And sorry Aly, but I think she would have at least medaled in all-arounds.

The 2012 USA Women Olympic Gymnastics Team

Gabby Douglas after she won GOLD in all-arounds

Steven and I have a lot of exciting traveling ahead of us.  Aside from me traveling back and forth from Vicksburg everyday, we are headed to Indianapolis (my favorite city) to see the Troopers compete at the DCI World Championships.  Pretty excited about that.  Then, on Labor Day weekend, we are taking a romantic vacation to Navarre Beach, Florida where we have an amazing condo right on the beach and three blissful days with our feet in the sand.  THEN, even though this is in November and still in the works, I have a chance to go to The Happiest Place on Earth, Disney World, with the Madison Central Band. I am VERY excited about this because it will be decorated for Christmas. in the 4 times I have been to Disney, I have never been during Christmas time.  And as much as I love Disney and as much as I am obsessed with Christmas, keeping me from this trip would just be cruel. I have some major eye-batting and sweet talking to do. And finally, after Christmas, we will be accompanying the Pritchard family to Gatlinburg again.  Excited for a week filled with leisurely activities and shopping and no milkshakes from Johnny Rockets on New Years Eve.

As far as summer goes, I am already almost half way through it.  It consisted of about 11 days.  It is a sad thing.  But that makes my Christmas break all the more sweeter.  And clinic means that I have 8 long weeks of not studying.  I have a few projects, but NO studying.  Pretty excited about that.

As far as my summer semester went, I didn't have any freak-outs like I usually do about once a semester.   I aced all of my courses again and kicked some check off butt.  But all of my hard work should reflect in my upcoming experiences with patients.  We, as the DPT Class of 2014, also were the first class to be given White Coats and have a ceremony celebrating the momentous occasion.  It was quite and achievement for our class and we all looked so dapper.  As professionals in Mississippi, we definitely took and conquered a great step as future physical therapists.

Flaunting my White Coat

The Best PT friends a girl could ask for

Buddy the Elf faces

It was an honor to have now-retired Dr. Paula Stubbs dawn my white coat

Steven was gone again for another Troopers summer, but it went by fast.  He had an awesome time and made some great friends to add to the list of awesome Troopers comrades that he already had.  I am so proud of him and I am proud to be his wife.  He has impacted so many lives and inspired so many percussionists to be the best they can be.  He is pretty awesome.  I did good.

Aside from all of that, we are just taking it one day at a time.  We are looking forward to the upcoming vacations, school starting, football season(s) for Mississippi State, Southern Miss and Madison Central, and fun holidays.  We also have Sully's birthday coming up on the 13th of this month and Stevens of course on the 28th. Excited to see what God has in store for our lives this semester.  It has been an amazing adventure so far.

Troop-a-Loop Takes My Husband - Part V

It always seems to sneak up in me. I always know it is coming and I always hate enduring the "goodbye" dinners with the families and the "let's keep our mind off of it so you don't lose it" attitude. But nevertheless, the Troopers drum corps will be taking my husband for another 8 weeks out of my year on Sunday while I waste away studying at home. The only good thing that comes out of him leaving is that by the time he comes back, I will only have about 3 more weeks of my summer classes left. That and Sully gets to sleep in the bed with me for protection. I love my husband and his passion for what he does as a percussionist and a teacher, but the fact that it takes him away from me for so long kind of sucks. Last year, he left of the first day of my first year of PT school and all of my new friends that I made that first summer thought I had an imaginary husband. That I had made him up. Sigh. But alas, what must be done must be done. He hasn't even left yet and I am already ready for him to be home.

To further the sadness, my lazy three weeks of summer is almost over. I am ready to see everyone again but not with the study-filled strings attached. I haven't even come close to completing or even starting the majority of my projects I wanted to do. But it's not like I won't have time on my hands. Husband-less.... Remember?

I have enjoyed time by the pool, chilling with the family and relaxing though. Nicole's wedding played an exciting part to my vacation and I got to catch up with my sweet J. Dylan is HOME and will be until July when he starts his summer classes at State. Mom is a happy camper. We do have Fridays off this summer so I will hopefully be able to use that as relaxation as much as studying. Meg has already recruited me to help her get her room ready for her kindergarten class next year. Should be good bonding for us. It's been a while. Other than that the rest of my time will be spent waiting Steven to hurry up with the tour and come home! Here are some pictures from the recent events!!

Spring Fever Has Come and Gone

Where has the spring gone? Not only has it flown by, but as far as weather goes we has about 2 days of actual spring weather. What has happened?
1. I had my first emotional breakdown at school thanks to Felix Adah and his lovely quizzes. I let out my complete aggression on his class review taking several shots at him personally.
2. PFC Dylan Pritchard has endured, persevered and graduated from Army Infantry basic training and advanced infantry training as of April 20. He is learning how to jump out of airplanes as we speak and will be home in 3 short weeks.
3. Steven and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary! My wonderful husband took me to New Orleans to celebrate. We saw The Lion King the musical and I cried. It was awesome. He also let me shop and took me to et some awesome Cajun food! We had a blast and even got to enjoy some of the French Quarter Festival.
4. I turned 25. One quarter of a century. But I have the best friends, family and the sweetest husband who celebrated my birthday for over a week.
5. Steven has finished his first indoor percussion group with a bang. The kids' last performance felt awesome and I hope it felt great to the kids as well! I was a proud drum momma!
6. Brad Stubblefield is out of the hospital, has a driver's license and is back at church. The spirit of the Lord shines through him. I truly admire his courage and strength and will be running a 5k in his honor on Saturday.
7. My friendships with my classmates keep growing. I could not ask for a better group of friend to see me through the rest of school and be with me during my career.

A lot has happened and a lot more is to come. Nicole is getting married. Philip is getting married. We will finish our first year of PT school an no longer be the babies. Sara is getting married. Trips to Pascagoula with the girls. Steven touring with the Troopers 2012. And Dylan coming home. I can't wait! Now I need to stop procrastinating and study for finals! Stay strong, pray hard, and God bless!

Steven, Me, Dylan, and Meghan at the Infantry Museam in Fort Benning, Georgia.

Sweet Sara's bridal shower with the rest of the Delta Gammas/Bully's Belles

Visiting in Memphis with B3 for Nicole's Bachelorette party and J's Birthday!

Saying goodbye to Little Bro after visiting with him over spring break

With Meagan and Meredith for Nicole's Christmas shower

New Orleans Anniversary trip right before The Lion King

The PT1s on Preview Day for the newbies

All of the girls at a Valentine's party at Mary Paige's

Unbelievably Proud Big Sister

So my mom tells me that when I was told that she was going to have another baby and that I was going to be a big sister that I continuously asked her if the baby in her belly had a bow in its hair.  I wanted a little sister more than anything in the world.  Note my frustration and several attitude fits when my little brother, Dylan, was born.  They had to bribe me with Hello Kitty products to make me happy... and jewelry I might add.  To multiply my frustration, Dylan was not a silent sleeper, he stole all of the attention that I had had to myself for 5 whole years, he was video taped more than me (we didn't have a video camera before Dylan) and he was a biter.  Needless to say, Dylan and I had our differences, but I am blessed that the baby in my mom's belly had a Yankees cap on instead of a bow in his hair.  That would have been odd.

Dylan and I only fought whenever parents were around, and there were several times when we even got parents involves, ruined dinner dates for them, and caused the Pritchard version of World War 3, 4, 5, 6... well you get the picture.  Each of us had to have the last word.  I was bossy and a perfectionist and Dylan was a know it all and stubborn.  So naturally our personalities didn't always match.  There were many-an-hour sitting on our knees on the living room floor in front of one another staring at each other until one of us said "I'm sorry" or "I love you".  I am sure my parents got a kick out of that.  But there were good times as well.  The ones when we were bad are easier to remember... and more fun to tell.  Dylan and I finally started getting along on a regular basis when I went off to college.  However, I think that is because he got into enough trouble in those middle school and early high school years, that whenever I came home, he didn't want to test my parents any longer.  We have grown so close over the past 19 and 1/2 years and I have always been so proud of him.

However, I have reached a pride-peak.  Dylan sent me a letter yesterday from basic training in Fort Benning Georgia saying that he was chosen Squad Leader.  I always knew that once he finally found something that he WANTED to do and that he knew he was good at that he would go far.  And look who was right.  I am so glad that he has found the path God has chosen for him.  He is good at it, and was definitely born for it.  I love him so much, and I know that he will be able to keep the position of Squad Leader (apparently that is the hard part). Love you bro! So proud of you!

For PT Students Everywhere

It has been a long week of long labs, lectures that go over class time 20 minutes, and teachers yelling at us for being late.  This definitely brightened things up just a little bit.  It was posted in our Facebook group, but Chris decided to add a little UMMC class of 2014 to it. My PT class is better than yours...

...

This video is brilliant but I gotta be real, the Thomas test is cool but it ain't the best deal. The Ober test is better cuz I let my leg hang, but my TFL's tight so I said "oh dang". It's all good cuz you think you got good knees, but last time I checked you only had 30 degrees. Flexion, extension why do you care, your hamstrings so tight can't get your leg in the air. If your readin this you better not hate, you need to go to bed dolph said don't be late. 

Like I said, My PT class is better than yours. You should hear the poems we write during class and read at the breaks. Stay strong, pray hard, and God bless.

There is a Fountain Who is a King

What a whirlwind.  So much has happened in so little time.  I have lost track of my blog. Bound to happen eventually.  Lets see... My second semester of physical therapy school is over and done.  I am still holding that 4.0 and I am learning so much, but more importantly, I have made so many precious friends.  To go into further detail would require a novel, not a blog.  Finals were stressful... to the point where I almost got addicted to studying and had to re-evaluate my priorities in life.  But I prevailed and the 4 week Christmas came and went.  The break called for a lot of family, driving, food, and laughs.  We had an amazing Christmas and made some special memories.  And though December 26th is usually the most depressing day of the year (because Christmas is another 365 days away) we left for the beautiful Smokey Mountains and had an amazing week of vacation.

The family vacation ended just as quickly as it started.  We all relaxed, played Catch Phrase and conquered the world in Risk, went shopping (maybe a little too much... so sue me), watched bowl games, cheered on Drew Brees as he broke the NFL over all record for most passing yards in a season, and enjoyed an amazing view of the Smokey Mountains from our cabin.  Though we had a good shot of the fireworks in downtown Gatlinburg on New Year's Eve, Steven and I decided to experience downtown and ended up waiting 45 minutes for a Chocolate milkshake at Johnny Rockets diner.  Terrible.  In my frustrated rage we were able to walk back to our car parked a mile outside of town in record time. We drove home on a Sunday, had just enough time to unpack and then we started planning Dylan's going away dinner.

Dylan left for basic training in Ft. Benning, Georgia on Tuesday January 3rd.  The night before we had a big meal for him and invited his new girlfriend Meghan over to share the last few hours with Dylan before he left us for 5 months.  We dropped him of at the Marriot in downtown Jackson on Tuesday afternoon and surprisingly enough I only saw a few tears from Mom.  Apparently she saved them all for Tuesday night... Wednesday... oh AND Thursday.  Apparently he had over a week of what is called "reception" before he actually began the yelling 24/7 and the "Yes Drill Sergeant"s.  We got a phone call this past weekend and he gave us  his love.  I am very proud of him. As Americans, we should be grateful for all of our troops, but the troops now hold an even bigger place in my heart since Little Brother is learning to defend me and my rights.  He was born to do this, and I know God is leading him down an amazing path.

This week began the first week of my third semester of PT school.  In May, I will offically be done with my first year!  It has been a long week.  We have learned a lot already, but life doesn't slow down even if classes have started back.

Today during goniometry lab, I received a phone call from Steven informing me that a good friend from our Sunday School class suffered severe injuries from a motorcycle accident this morning (the first sunny and picturesque morning in over a week).  He was taken to UMC where it was discovered that he had completely broken his T4 vertebrae and was paralyzed from the chest down.  I know that God has a plan and that He is going to bring about good from this, but tragedy is tragedy and this was just terrible news.  Luckily he is alive and stable in the SICU, but he is in a lot of pain.  God's plan may not always be the one we want of the one we choose, but it always works out in the end no matter how detrimental the circumstances may be.  I just pray that God will place a hand on him, his wife and their families.

This past Sunday, Brother Phil spoke about Jesus washing his disciples feet.  He spoke of how humbling that experience is for anyone, and for the Lord to offer surely struck the disciples as odd.  Since He is the Son of Man, they refused at first, but explains to his disciples after washing their dirty feet why he did so:

"Do you understand what I was doing? You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord' and you are right because it is true.  And since I, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feel, you ought to wash other's feet.  I have given you an example to follow.  Do as I have done to you.  How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master.  Nor are the messengers more important than the one who sends them.  You know these things - now do them! That is the path of blessing"  John 13:12-17

Jesus showed unconditional love to his disciples -- his followers.  However, in order to show others unconditional love, the disciples needed a demonstration as to what that was.  It is our duty to show this love to everyone we come in contact with.  We aren't to pass judgement or look the other way, we are to love unconditionally no matter HOW DIRTY THE FEET.  This sermon definitely reflected on my pride and my tendency to hold my head above others because of their "dirty feet".  How humbling to be told that I am certainly not greater than the Lord my God, and yet he washed the dirt off of undeserving feet.  And since he did, so should I.  We ended the sermon with a song called "Who Can Satisfy" that always gets my tear ducts flowing.  The chorus goes:

"There is a Fountain, who is a King.  Victorious warrior and Lord of everything.  My Rock my Shelter, my very own.  Blessed Redeemer who stands upon the Throne."

I pray this song especially considering the events that have happened this week.  That that couple in our Sunday school class will feel God's unconditional and unfailing love and that he will be their rock and their shelter.  He is their victorious Warrior in this time.  And with Him, they can do all things.

Stay strong, pray hard, and God bless.

P.S. Here are some pictures from recent events. Enjoy!